CURE Epilepsy is dedicated to funding patient-focused research to find a cure for the 65 million people with epilepsy worldwide. This month, we share the following articles and abstracts which are furthering the study of epilepsy and bringing the world closer to a cure.

Researchers have found that the risk of seizures or epilepsy following a COVID infection is significantly higher than after being infected with the flu. The team looked at the health records of people who had been infected with COVID and matched them (so that they were similar in characteristics such as age, sex, and medical conditions) with a group of people who had been infected with the flu. The team then compared the incidence of epilepsy and seizures between the two groups over a six-month period following the initial infection. The rate of new cases of epilepsy or seizures was 0.94% in the people who had COVID, compared with 0.6% in those who had the flu. The team indicated that while the overall risk of seizures was very low, people who had COVID were 55% more likely to develop epilepsy or seizures over the next six months than people who had the flu.

A new study seeks to understand how some people’s seizures change over time in what is known as a seizure ‘cycle’ and understand how certain triggers might increase or decrease seizure risk, perhaps giving people with epilepsy a better idea of how and why their seizures happen, and to better recognize the early warning signs. The study found that aging itself, as well as common triggers, may be contributing factors to how the medical condition affects those prone to seizures. The researchers studied the seizure diaries of more than 1,000 patients ages 2 months to 80 years and developed a new statistical model to explicitly capture the effect of factors that may drive transitions in seizure risk, looking at factors like antiseizure medications, illness, and menstrual cycles. In examining the way seizure cycles vary in people with epilepsy, the researchers found that individuals in older age groups had shorter “calm” stretches between seizures, while younger age groups had longer stretches. This work paves the way for future studies to further examine seizure cycles.

Researchers have recently identified and developed a small molecule called D4 with the potential to treat TLE by suppressing neuroinflammation. The findings suggest that D4 strongly suppresses TLE-induced neuroinflammation, curbs TLE seizures, and increases survival rate in an animal model of TLE. D4 works by blocking “hemichannels” in the brain, which are channels that act as pathways for neuroinflammatory molecules. The researchers note that their findings bring forward a possible new pathway for drug development for epilepsy and also highlight the involvement of neuroinflammation in epilepsy.

A small group of brain cells linked to a circuit in the brain is responsible for setting off whole-brain seizures in a rare form of epilepsy affected by blood sugar levels, a new study suggests. This rare genetic disorder is known as GLUT1 deficiency syndrome. Researchers used a combination of electroencephalography (EEG) as well as brain imaging in humans to show that the seizures started from brain areas called the thalamus and somatosensory cortex. When blood sugar levels dipped, abnormal electrical activity in the circuit formed by these areas spread throughout the brain. The researchers also used an animal model of GLUT1 deficiency syndrome to further investigate this circuit and pinpoint the cell types important in causing an imbalance in inhibitory brain activity compared to excitatory brain activity (which can lead to seizures). The researchers suggested these results could point to a mechanism for seizures in GLUT1 deficiency syndrome that might be targeted as a potential treatment for seizures related to GLUT1 Deficiency syndrome.