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Epilepsy can be a devastating disorder. In addition to debilitating seizures, epilepsy can cause cognitive and emotional problems with reduced quality of life. Therefore, the major aim is to prevent the disorder in the first place: identify, detect, and reverse the processes responsible for its onset, and monitor and treat its progression. Epilepsy often occurs following a latent period of months to years (epileptogenesis) as a consequence of a brain insult, such as head trauma, stroke, or status epilepticus. Although this latent period clearly represents a therapeutic window, we are not able to stratify patients at risk for long-term epilepsy, which is prerequisite for preventative clinical trials. Moreover, because of the length of the latent period, an early biomarker for treatment response would be of high value. Finally, mechanistic biomarkers of epileptogenesis may provide more profound insight in the process of disease development.

Neurologic and psychiatric comorbidities are common in patients with epilepsy. Diagnostic, predictive, and pharmacodynamic biomarkers of such comorbidities do not exist. They may share pathogenetic mechanisms with epileptogenesis/ictogenesis, and as such are an unmet clinical need. The objectives of the subgroup on biomarkers of comorbidities at the XIII Workshop on the Neurobiology of Epilepsy (WONOEP) were to present the state-of-the-art recent research findings in the field that highlighting potential biomarkers for comorbidities in epilepsy. We review recent progress in the field, including molecular, imaging, and genetic biomarkers of comorbidities as discussed during the WONOEP meeting on August 31-September 4, 2015, in Heybeliada Island (Istanbul, Turkey). We further highlight new directions and concepts from studies on comorbidities and potential new biomarkers for the prediction, diagnosis, and treatment of epilepsy-associated comorbidities. The activation of various molecular signaling pathways such as the "Janus Kinase/Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription," "mammalian Target of Rapamycin," and oxidative stress have been shown to correlate with the presence and severity of subsequent cognitive abnormalities. Furthermore, dysfunction in serotonergic transmission, hyperactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis, the role of the inflammatory cytokines, and the contributions of genetic factors have all recently been regarded as relevant for understanding epilepsy-associated depression and cognitive deficits. Recent evidence supports the utility of imaging studies as potential biomarkers. The role of such biomarker may be far beyond the diagnosis of comorbidities, as accumulating clinical data indicate that comorbidities can predict epilepsy outcomes. Future research is required to reveal whether molecular changes in specific signaling pathways or advanced imaging techniques could be detected in the clinical settings and correlate with epilepsy-associated comorbidities. A reliable biomarker will allow a more accurate diagnosis and improved treatment of epilepsy-associated comorbidities.

Whether long febrile seizures (FSs) can cause epilepsy in the absence of genetic or acquired predisposing factors is unclear. Having established causality between long FSs and limbic epilepsy in an animal model, we studied here if the duration of the inciting FSs influenced the probability of developing subsequent epilepsy and the severity of the spontaneous seizures. We evaluated if interictal epileptifom activity and/or elevation of hippocampal T2 signal on magnetic resonance image (MRI) provided predictive biomarkers for epileptogenesis, and if the inflammatory mediator interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), an intrinsic element of FS generation, contributed also to subsequent epileptogenesis. We found that febrile status epilepticus, lasting an average of 64 min, increased the severity and duration of subsequent spontaneous seizures compared with FSs averaging 24 min. Interictal activity in rats sustaining febrile status epilepticus was also significantly longer and more robust, and correlated with the presence of hippocampal T2 changes in individual rats. Neither T2 changes nor interictal activity predicted epileptogenesis. Hippocampal levels of IL-1beta were significantly higher for >24 h after prolonged FSs. Chronically, IL-1beta levels were elevated only in rats developing spontaneous limbic seizures after febrile status epilepticus, consistent with a role for this inflammatory mediator in epileptogenesis. Establishing seizure duration as an important determinant in epileptogenesis and defining the predictive roles of interictal activity, MRI, and inflammatory processes are of paramount importance to the clinical understanding of the outcome of FSs, the most common neurological insult in infants and children.

Approximately 30% of epilepsy patients do not respond to antiepileptic drugs, representing an unmet medical need. There is evidence that neuroinflammation plays a pathogenic role in drug-resistant epilepsy. The high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1)/TLR4 axis is a key initiator of neuroinflammation following epileptogenic injuries, and its activation contributes to seizure generation in animal models. However, further work is required to understand the role of HMGB1 and its isoforms in epileptogenesis and drug resistance. Using a combination of animal models and sera from clinically well-characterized patients, we have demonstrated that there are dynamic changes in HMGB1 isoforms in the brain and blood of animals undergoing epileptogenesis. The pathologic disulfide HMGB1 isoform progressively increased in blood before epilepsy onset and prospectively identified animals that developed the disease. Consistent with animal data, we observed early expression of disulfide HMGB1 in patients with newly diagnosed epilepsy, and its persistence was associated with subsequent seizures. In contrast with patients with well-controlled epilepsy, patients with chronic, drug-refractory epilepsy persistently expressed the acetylated, disulfide HMGB1 isoforms. Moreover, treatment of animals with antiinflammatory drugs during epileptogenesis prevented both disease progression and blood increase in HMGB1 isoforms. Our data suggest that HMGB1 isoforms are mechanistic biomarkers for epileptogenesis and drug-resistant epilepsy in humans, necessitating evaluation in larger-scale prospective studies., Introduction Epileptogenesis is a dynamic process of molecular, cellular, and functional reorganization following precipitating events that leads to brain pathology capable of generating spontaneous seizures (1). Currently used antiepileptic drugs [...]

Brain inflammation is a major factor in epilepsy, but the impact of specific inflammatory mediators on neuronal excitability is incompletely understood. Using models of acute and chronic seizures in C57BL/6 mice, we discovered a proconvulsant pathway involving high-mobility group box-1 (HMGB1) release from neurons and glia and its interaction with Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), a key receptor of innate immunity. Antagonists of HMGB1 and TLR4 retard seizure precipitation and decrease acute and chronic seizure recurrence. TLR4-defective C3H/HeJ mice are resistant to kainate-induced seizures. The proconvulsant effects of HMGB1, like those of interleukin-1β (IL-1β), are partly mediated by ifenprodil-sensitive N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. Increased expression of HMGB1 and TLR4 in human epileptogenic tissue, like that observed in the mouse model of chronic seizures, suggests a role for the HMGB1-TLR4 axis in human epilepsy. Thus, HMGB1-TLR4 signaling may contribute to generating and perpetuating seizures in humans and might be targeted to attain anticonvulsant effects in epilepsies that are currently resistant to drugs., Epilepsy is a disabling neurological disorder characterized by recurring, unprovoked seizures. It affects about 1% of the population of all ages and often requires lifelong medication. (1) In about 30% [...]

Aims: The causes of distinct patterns of reduced cortical thickness in the common human epilepsies, detectable on neuroimaging and with important clinical consequences, are unknown. We investigated the underlying mechanisms of cortical thinning using a systems‐level analysis. Methods: Imaging‐based cortical structural maps from a large‐scale epilepsy neuroimaging study were overlaid with highly spatially resolved human brain gene expression data from the Allen Human Brain Atlas. Cell‐type deconvolution, differential expression analysis and cell‐type enrichment analyses were used to identify differences in cell‐type distribution. These differences were followed up in post‐mortem brain tissue from humans with epilepsy using Iba1 immunolabelling. Furthermore, to investigate a causal effect in cortical thinning, cell‐type‐specific depletion was used in a murine model of acquired epilepsy. Results: We identified elevated fractions of microglia and endothelial cells in regions of reduced cortical thickness. Differentially expressed genes showed enrichment for microglial markers and, in particular, activated microglial states. Analysis of post‐mortem brain tissue from humans with epilepsy confirmed excess activated microglia. In the murine model, transient depletion of activated microglia during the early phase of the disease development prevented cortical thinning and neuronal cell loss in the temporal cortex. Although the development of chronic seizures was unaffected, the epileptic mice with early depletion of activated microglia did not develop deficits in a non‐spatial memory test seen in epileptic mice not depleted of microglia. Conclusions: These convergent data strongly implicate activated microglia in cortical thinning, representing a new dimension for concern and disease modification in the epilepsies, potentially distinct from seizure control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]