Epilepsia
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To determine if children actively on the ketogenic diet (KD) can safely undergo general anesthesia (GA) for surgical procedures. ⋯ Children on the KD can safely undergo GA for surgical procedures. Although serum glucose levels appear to remain stable, serum pH or bicarbonate levels should be monitored because of the risk of metabolic acidosis.
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This study was conducted to investigate the effect of low-frequency electric cortical stimulation on epileptic focus in humans. ⋯ Low-frequency, low-intensity electric cortical stimulation could produce inhibitory effects on epileptic activity. At the same time, however, a caution for possible induction of EEG seizures is needed, even when applying low-frequency electric stimulation.
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Long-term antiepileptic drug (AED) therapy is the reality for the majority of patients diagnosed with epilepsy. One AED will usually be sufficient to control seizures effectively, but a significant proportion of patients will need to receive a multiple AED regimen. Furthermore, polytherapy may be necessary for the treatment of concomitant disease. ⋯ In recent years, a more rational approach has been taken with regard to metabolic drug interactions because of our enhanced understanding of the cytochrome P450 system that is responsible for the metabolism of many drugs, including AEDs. The review briefly discusses the mechanisms of drug interactions and then proceeds to highlight some of the more clinically relevant drug interactions between AEDs and between AEDs and non-AEDs. Understanding the fundamental principles that contribute to a drug interaction may help the physician to better anticipate a drug interaction and allow a graded and planned therapeutic response and, therefore, help to enhance the management of patients with epilepsy who may require treatment with polytherapy regimens.
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Animal models in which seizures are elicited by chemical or electrical means are commonly used for identification and preclinical testing of novel antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). Such models have been successful in discovering all the new AEDs. However, despite the high efficacy of AEDs against elicited seizures in rodent models, a significant proportion of epilepsy patients with spontaneous recurrent seizures is resistant to these drugs. It is not known whether drug testing in rodent models with spontaneous recurrent seizures would yield a more predictive result with respect to AED efficacy in the clinic. This led us to test one of the novel AEDs, levetiracetam (LEV), in a rat model of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) with spontaneous recurrent seizures. ⋯ The data demonstrate that interesting results can be obtained by drug testing in epileptic rats, giving a more realistic prediction of clinical efficacy than results from drug testing in animal models with elicited seizures. Thus, although drug trials in rats with spontaneous recurrent seizures are laborious and time-consuming, such trials should be added to the preclinical characterization of novel AEDs.
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To define the changes in gene and protein expression of the neuronal glutamate transporter (EAAT3/EAAC1) in a rat model of temporal lobe epilepsy as well as in human hippocampal and neocortical epilepsy. ⋯ Elevations of EAAT3/EAAC1 mRNA and protein levels are present in neurons from hippocampus and neocortex in both rats and humans with epilepsy. Upregulation of EAAT3/EAAC1 in hippocampal and neocortical epilepsy may be an important modulator of extracellular glutamate concentrations and may occur as a response to recurrent seizures in these cell types.