Finding biomarkers for epilepsy

Almost 50 million people suffer from epilepsy, making it to one of the most common neurological diseases worldwide. Intractable epilepsy has a life-long effect on social and cognitive functioning and quality of life of patients. One of the major challenges in epilepsy research is the identification of reliable biomarkers that can be measured routinely in easily accessible samples, such as blood. Biomarkers could substantially improve the management of people with epilepsy and could lead to prevention in the right person at the right time.

The partners propose that circulating isomiRs (recently discovered disease modified small non-coding RNA molecules) in blood reflect pathological changes in brain and can be used as biomarkers for epilepsy. To test this hypothesis, they will use an innovative and translational experimental approach involving an experimental model of epilepsy as well as blood and resected brain tissue from patients with intractable epilepsies. To identify biomarkers, they will study changes of circulating isomiRs in the model in two cohorts (developing epilepsy or no epilepsy) using state-of-the-art techniques. Findings in these experimental studies will be used for validation in patients. The approach outlined here has recently delivered biomarkers in cancer research, however, this has never been attempted in epilepsy.