• Martin Bauer, Rudolf Karch, Markus Zeitlinger, Joan Liu, Matthias J Koepp, Marie-Claude Asselin, Sanjay M Sisodiya, Johannes A Hainfellner, Wolfgang Wadsak, Markus Mitterhauser, Markus Müller, Ekaterina Pataraia, and Oliver Langer.
• From the Departments of Clinical Pharmacology (M.B., M.Z., M. Müller, O.L.) and Neurology (E.P.), Center for Medical Statistics, Informatics, and Intelligent Systems (R.K.), Institute of Neurology (J.A.H.), and Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-guided Therapy, Division of Nuclear Medicine (W.W., M. Mitterhauser), Medical University of Vienna, Austria; Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy (J.L., M.J.K., S.M.S.), UCL Institute of Neurology, London; Epilepsy Society (M.J.K., S.M.S.), Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire; Institute for Population Health Wolfson Molecular Imaging Centre (M.-C.A.), University of Manchester, MAHSC, UK; and Health and Environment Department (O.L.), AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Seibersdorf, Austria.
• Neurology. 2014 Oct 7;83(15):1326-31.

ObjectivesTo study the functional activity of the multidrug efflux transporter P-glycoprotein (Pgp) at the blood-brain barrier of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy using (R)-[(11)C]verapamil (VPM)-PET before and after temporal lobe surgery to assess whether postoperative changes in seizure frequency and antiepileptic drug load are associated with changes in Pgp function.MethodsSeven patients with drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy underwent VPM-PET scans pre- and postsurgery. Patients were followed up for a median of 6 years (range 4-7) after surgery. Pgp immunoreactivity in surgically resected hippocampal specimens was determined with immunohistochemistry.ResultsOptimal surgical outcome, defined as seizure freedom and withdrawal of antiepileptic drugs, was associated with higher temporal lobe Pgp function before surgery, higher Pgp-positive staining in surgically resected hippocampal specimens, and reduction in global Pgp function postoperatively, compared with nonoptimal surgery outcome.ConclusionsThe data from our pilot study suggest that Pgp overactivity in epilepsy is dynamic, and complete seizure control and elimination of antiepileptic medication is associated with reversal of overactivity, although these findings will require confirmation in a larger patient cohort.© 2014 American Academy of Neurology.

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