Apo E Linked to Epilepsy After Traumatic Brain Injury

In the current study, which was published in the June 2003 issue of the Archives of Neurology, investigators examined the linkage between Apo E and the development of epileptic-type seizures after traumatic brain injury.

A group of 106 patients with moderate-to-severe brain injuries were evaluated six months after having been admitted to hospital. In addition, DNA samples were examined to determine the patients' Apo E variant.

Of the 106 patients, 29 had the epsilon 4 variation of apoE, and 77 did not. Of the apoE carriers, 34% had post-traumatic seizures, while only 14% of those without the gene had seizures.

"Post-traumatic epilepsy is a common and frequently disabling complication of traumatic brain injury, for which there is no effective prophylactic therapy,” explained first author Dr. Diaz-Arrastia, associate professor of neurology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (Dallas, USA; ). "What this finding indicates is that if we learn to manipulate aspects of lipid or lipoprotein metabolism in the brain we may be able to develop therapies to prevent post-traumatic epilepsy.




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University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center