Scripps research study opens the door to new class of drugs for epilepti... ( LA JOLLA CA July 28 2010 For Immed...)

Scripps research study opens the door to new class of drugs for epileptic seizures

Date:7/29/2010

LA JOLLA, CA July 28, 2010 For Immediate Release A chemical compound that boosts the action of a molecule normally produced in the brain may provide the starting point for a new line of therapies for the treatment of epileptic seizures, according to a new study by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute.

"This compound really provides a new angle for developing drugs to treat seizures," says Scripps Research Assistant Professor Xiaoying Lu, who co-authored the paper with Professor Edward Roberts, Chair of the Molecular and Integrative Neurosciences Department Tamas Bartfai, and colleagues.

As described this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the new compound effectively reduced the frequency and severity of seizures in mice and rats.

About 50 million people worldwide are affected by epilepsy, a disease characterized by recurrent, unprovoked seizures. As a result of the seizures, people may have violent muscle spasms or lose consciousness and, in some cases, suffer from brain damage or die. Epileptic seizures are caused by the rapid and excessive firing of a population of neurons in an area of the brain known as the cortex. The dozen-plus medicines currently on the market to treat epilepsy work to reduce this excessive firing primarily by targeting the mechanisms by which neurons send signals to one another.

However, as many as 30 percent of people with epilepsy do not respond to current drugs, making the search for additional drugs that act by different mechanisms an urgent one.

Enter Galanin

A promising new approach to treating seizures is to target a molecule called galanin. Galanin is a peptide, a fragment of a protein, produced in the brain to regulate a variety of functions, such as pain, memory, addition, mood, and appetite. In the late 1990s, researchers discovered that galanin is also a potent anticonvulsant.

Recent research suggests that when s
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Contact: Mika Ono
mikaono@scripps.edu
858-784-2052
Scripps Research Institute
Source:Eurekalert

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