Dr GatsonIn a study presented at Experimental Biology 2012 in San Diego CA, Dr Joshua Gatson and his team from the University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas demonstrates for the first time the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant capabilities of estrone after traumatic brain injury. The study, conducted in male rats, compared 0.5 mg of estrone to a placebo, both given 30 minutes after the injury. It demonstrated that estrone is involved in promoting brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which promotes cell survival. Oestrone was administered withing 30 minutes of brain injury and resulted in an increase in BDNF, suggesting that the drug given shortly after injury, could potentially increase repair mechanism.
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor mediates the neuro-protective effects of estrone after brain injury. J.W. Gatson, J. Simpkins, J. Wigginton, M-M. Liu, S. Wolf and J. Minei. Univ. of Texas Southwestern Med. Ctr. and Univ. of North Texas Hlth. Sci. Ctr. http://experimentalbiology.org
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A special interest group meeting will be held at the ICNC2012
Date: May 31, 2012
Time: 1300-1330 hrs
Venue: Mezzanine M room 7/8, Brisbane Convention Centre
Topic: Does Vigabatrin treatment in infancy bring visual field defects
Please contactThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you would wish to participate or contribute to this meeting.
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New research confirms that childhood onset temporal lobe epilepsy has a significant impact on brain aging. Study findings published in Epilepsia, a peer-reviewed journal of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE), show age-accelerated ventricular expansion outside the normal range in this patient population.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), epilepsy affects nearly 2 million Americans. Temporal lobe epilepsy is the most common form of partial epilepsy, with 60% of all patients having this form of the disease. Previous evidence suggests that patients with childhood onset epilepsy have significant cognitive and developmental deficiencies, which continue into adulthood, particularly in those resistant to antiepileptic drugs.
Prior imaging studies of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy have shown abnormalities in brain structure in hippocampus, in thalamus and other subcortical structures, and also in cortical and white matter volume. However, there is limited knowledge of the effects of aging on these structural changes.
To characterize differences in brain structure and patterns of age-related change, Dr. Bruce Hermann and colleagues from the University of Wisconsin-Madison recruited 55 patients with chronic temporal lobe epilepsy and 53 healthy controls for their study. Participants were between the ages of 14 and 60, with patients having mean age of onset of epilepsy in childhood/adolescence. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to measure cortical thickness, area and volume in the brains of all subjects.
In participants with epilepsy, there were extensive abnormalities in brain structure, involving subcortical regions, cerebellum and cortical gray matter thickness and volume in the temporal and extratemporal lobes. Furthermore, researchers found that increasing chronological age was associated with progressive changes in cortical, subcortical and cerebellar regions for both epilepsy subjects and healthy controls. The pattern of change was similar for both groups, but epilepsy patients always showed more extensive abnormalities. In particular, epilepsy patients displayed age-accelerated expansion of the lateral and third ventricles. "The anatomic abnormalities in patients with epilepsy indicate a significant neurodevelopmental impact," said Dr. Hermann.
"Patients with epilepsy are burdened with significant neurodevelopmental challenges due to these cumulative brain abnormalities," concludes Dr. Hermann. "The consequences of these anatomical changes for epilepsy patients as they progress into elder years remain unknown and further study of the adverse effects in those of older chronological age is needed."
References:
Full citation:"Brain Structure and Aging in Chronic Temporal Lobe Epilepsy." Kevin Dabbs, Tara Becker, Jana Jones, Paul Rutecki, Michael Seidenberg, and Bruce Hermann. Epilepsia; April 2, 2012 (DOI:10.1111/j.1528-1167.2012.03447.x).
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ICNA President-Elect elections are underway. The online voting site will remain open until 12 Noon GMT on Tuesday April 17, 2012. Your vote in this election is very important. Please take a few minutes to visit the online voting site and register your choice. If you haven't received your voting credentials by email, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. asap
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