Modeling seizures in the Human Phenotype Ontology according to contemporary ILAE concepts makes big phenotypic data tractable.

OBJECTIVE: The clinical features of epilepsy determine how it is defined, which in turn guides management. Therefore, consideration of the fundamental clinical entities that comprise an epilepsy is essential in the study of causes, trajectories, and treatment responses. The Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO) is used widely in clinical and research genetics for concise communication and modeling of clinical features, allowing extracted data to be harmonized using logical inference. We sought to redesign the HPO seizure subontology to improve its consistency with current epileptological concepts, supporting the use of large clinical data sets in high-throughput clinical and research genomics. METHODS: We created a new HPO seizure subontology based on the 2017 International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) Operational Classification of Seizure Types, and integrated concepts of status epilepticus, febrile, reflex, and neonatal seizures at different levels of detail. We compared the HPO seizure subontology prior to, and following, our revision, according to the information that could be inferred about the seizures of 791 individuals from three independent cohorts: 2 previously published and 150 newly recruited individuals. Each cohort\u27s data were provided in a different format and harmonized using the two versions of the HPO. RESULTS: The new seizure subontology increased the number of descriptive concepts for seizures 5-fold. The number of seizure descriptors that could be annotated to the cohort increased by 40% and the total amount of information about individuals\u27 seizures increased by 38%. The most important qualitative difference was the relationship of focal to bilateral tonic-clonic seizure to generalized-onset and focal-onset seizures. SIGNIFICANCE: We have generated a detailed contemporary conceptual map for harmonization of clinical seizure data, implemented in the official 2020-12-07 HPO release and freely available at hpo.jax.org. This will help to overcome the phenotypic bottleneck in genomics, facilitate reuse of valuable data, and ultimately improve diagnostics and precision treatment of the epilepsies

Loss of Neuron Navigator 2 Impairs Brain and Cerebellar Development

Acknowledgements We thank the study family for their enthusiastic participationPeer reviewedPublisher PD

GWAS meta-analysis of over 29,000 people with epilepsy identifies 26 risk loci and subtype-specific genetic architecture

Epilepsy is a highly heritable disorder affecting over 50 million people worldwide, of which about one-third are resistant to current treatments. Here we report a multi-ancestry genome-wide association study including 29,944 cases, stratified into three broad categories and seven subtypes of epilepsy, and 52,538 controls. We identify 26 genome-wide significant loci, 19 of which are specific to genetic generalized epilepsy (GGE). We implicate 29 likely causal genes underlying these 26 loci. SNP-based heritability analyses show that common variants explain between 39.6% and 90% of genetic risk for GGE and its subtypes. Subtype analysis revealed markedly different genetic architectures between focal and generalized epilepsies. Gene-set analyses of GGE signals implicate synaptic processes in both excitatory and inhibitory neurons in the brain. Prioritized candidate genes overlap with monogenic epilepsy genes and with targets of current antiseizure medications. Finally, we leverage our results to identify alternate drugs with predicted efficacy if repurposed for epilepsy treatment

The bedside and the bench of STXBP1-DEE in the wake of precision medicine

Introduction: STXBP1-encephalopathy is a broad neurological disorder caused by mutations in the presynaptic gene STXBP1, involved in neurotransmitter release at the synapse. The core symptoms of this disorder include intellectual disability, epilepsy, movement disorders and autism spectrum disorder. The available therapeutic approaches are mainly symptomatic. Recently, a new potential targeted therapeutic approach has been developed in the wake of precision medicine: SINEUPs are a class of natural and synthetic non-coding RNA which increases the translation of the target protein, without affecting mRNA levels. In order to plan the clinical trials of targeted therapeutic approaches, a natural history of STXBP1 related disorders is crucial. Aims: 1. To address the causes of phenotypic variability and draft a natural history of STXBP1-DEE using retrospective data of a cohort of STXBP1 patients. 2. To use specific SINEUPs to target STXBP1 mRNA and restore the STXBP1 protein levels in mutated human neurons derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (IPSCs). Methods: 1. Retrospective data (seizures history, neurological examinations, developmental follow-up) were collected from a cohort of STXBP1 patients. A disease-specific composite developmental score (STXBP1_DevScore) was elaborate through expert consensus. 2. Specific SINEUPs targeting STXBP1 mRNA (STXBP1-SINEUPs) were designed. Human neurons were differentiated from IPSCs with CRISPR-induced STXBP1 mutations. STXBP1-SINEUPs were used to treat the neurons. The STXBP1 protein levels after STXBP1-SINEUPs treatment were assessed by Western blot. Results: 1. We collected longitudinal clinical data of 48 STXBP1 patients (mean follow-up period: 8 years). The epilepsy history of STXBP1 patients show the presence of at least two distinct patterns of evolution. Data suggest that epilepsy impact on neuro-developmental consequences in STXBP1-DEE is limited to age at seizure onset. 2. We treated neuronal lines harbouring three different CRISPR-induced mutations in STXBP1, which recapitulated the haploinsufficiency conditions found in patients. In heterozygous neurons, the STXBP1-SINEUPs reached a 1.7-fold mean increase of STXBP1 protein compared to negative control. Conclusions: 1. The use of STXBP1_DevScore allowed to unravel common trajectories in the evolution of STXBP1-related disorders. Efforts should be made to collect natural history data from a larger cohort, in order to identify effective treatment timepoints and rational clinical endpoints for targeted therapies clinical trials. 2. We found that STXBP1-specific SINEUPs have the ability to increase STXBP1 protein levels in human neurons derived from IPSCs, in haploinsufficiency conditions. These results also demonstrate that IPSCsderived human neurons have great potential as a model for target therapy screening in genetic neurodevelopmental and epileptic disorders

Current and promising therapeutic options for Dravet syndrome

Introduction: Dravet Syndrome (DS) is a developmental and epileptic encephalopathy carrying high-level psychobehavioral burdens. Although the disease has been known for almost 4 decades, and despite significant progress in the understanding of its physiopathology and natural course, the pharmacological treatment leaves patients and caregivers with significant unmet needs. This review provides a summary of the current and promising therapeutic options for DS Areas covered: PubMed and ClinicalTrials.gov were screened using ‘Dravet Syndrome’ OR ‘DS,’ AND ‘pharmacotherapy,’ AND ‘treatments.’ Randomized clinical trials, structured reviews, and meta-analyses were selected for in-human application of well-known anti-seizure medications; while in-vivo experiments on models of DS were selected to evaluate the potential of new therapeutic strategies. Expert opinion: The search for new pharmacological treatment options is led by the need for care and defeat of the natural course of the disease, an aspect still largely neglected by the available therapeutic strategies. Yet, the last 6 years have led to a climate of increased interest and availability of clinical trials. Particularly, gene therapy could hopefully prevent DS evolution by directly relieving the specific genetic defect, although the possibility of off-target editing, and the uneasy administration route have still largely prevented its use

New Trends and Most Promising Therapeutic Strategies for Epilepsy Treatment

Background: Despite the wide availability of novel anti-seizure medications (ASMs), 30% of patients with epilepsy retain persistent seizures with a significant burden in comorbidity and an increased risk of premature death. This review aims to discuss the therapeutic strategies, both pharmacological and non-, which are currently in the pipeline. Methods: PubMed, Scopus, and EMBASE databases were screened for experimental and clinical studies, meta-analysis, and structured reviews published between January 2018 and September 2021. The terms “epilepsy,” “treatment” or “therapy,” and “novel” were used to filter the results. Conclusions: The common feature linking all the novel therapeutic approaches is the spasmodic rush toward precision medicine, aiming at holistically evaluating patients, and treating them accordingly as a whole. Toward this goal, different forms of intervention may be embraced, starting from the choice of the most suitable drug according to the type of epilepsy of an individual or expected adverse effects, to the outstanding field of gene therapy. Moreover, innovative insights come from in-vitro and in-vivo studies on the role of inflammation and stem cells in the brain. Further studies on both efficacy and safety are needed, with the challenge to mature evidence into reliable assets, ameliorating the symptoms of patients, and answering the challenges of this disease

An Open Retrospective Study of a Standardized Cannabidiol Based-Oil in Treatment-Resistant Epilepsy

Introduction: Cannabidiol (CBD) has antiseizure properties but no psychoactive effects. Randomized controlled trials of an oral, pharmaceutical formulation of highly purified CBD are promising; however, data regarding other formulations are sparse and anecdotal. We evaluated the effectiveness of add-on therapy with a standardized CBD-based oil in treatment-resistant epilepsy (TRE) patients. Materials and Methods: An open retrospective study was carried out on patients with refractory epilepsy of different etiology. We reviewed clinical data from medical charts and caregiver's information. Participants received add-on with 24% CBD-based oil, sublingually administered, at the starting dose of 5-10 mg/[kg·day] up to the maximum dose of 50 mg/[kg·day], based on clinical efficacy. Efficacy was evaluated based on patients being seizure free or experiencing at ≥50% improvement on seizure frequency. Tolerability and suspected adverse drug reaction data were also analyzed. Results: We included 37 patients (46% female) with a median age of 16.1 (range: 2-54) years. Twenty-two (60%) patients suffered from epileptic encephalopathy, 9 (24%) from focal epilepsy, and 6 (16%) from generalized epilepsy. Mean follow-up duration was 68 (range: 24-72) weeks. The average age at seizure onset was 3.8±2.1 years (range: 7 days-21 years). The median achieved CBD-based oil dose was 4.2±11.4 (range: 0.6-50) mg/[kg·day]. At 40-month follow-up, 7 (19%) patients were seizure free, 27 (73%) reported >50% improvement, 2 (5%) patients reported <50% improvement, and 1 patient discontinued therapy due to lack of efficacy. Weaning from concomitant antiepileptic drugs was obtained after 24 weeks from CBD introduction in 10 subjects. Mild and transitory adverse events, including somnolence or loss of appetite, occurred in nine (25%) patients. Discussion and Conclusion: We showed the efficacy of a CBD-based oil formulation with few significant side effects in patients with TRE of various etiologies.Introduction: Cannabidiol (CBD) has antiseizure properties but no psychoactive effects. Randomized controlled trials of an oral, pharmaceutical formulation of highly purified CBD are promising; however, data regarding other formulations are sparse and anecdotal. We evaluated the effectiveness of add-on therapy with a standardized CBD-based oil in treatment-resistant epilepsy (TRE) patients.Materials and Methods: An open retrospective study was carried out on patients with refractory epilepsy of different etiology. We reviewed clinical data from medical charts and caregiver's information. Participants received add-on with 24% CBD-based oil, sublingually administered, at the starting dose of 5-10 mg/[kg.day] up to the maximum dose of 50 mg/[kg.day], based on clinical efficacy. Efficacy was evaluated based on patients being seizure free or experiencing at >= 50% improvement on seizure frequency. Tolerability and suspected adverse drug reaction data were also analyzed.Results: We included 37 patients (46% female) with a median age of 16.1 (range: 2-54) years. Twenty-two (60%) patients suffered from epileptic encephalopathy, 9 (24%) from focal epilepsy, and 6 (16%) from generalized epilepsy. Mean follow-up duration was 68 (range: 24-72) weeks. The average age at seizure onset was 3.8 +/- 2.1 years (range: 7 days-21 years). The median achieved CBD-based oil dose was 4.2 +/- 11.4 (range: 0.6-50) mg/[kg.day]. At 40-month follow-up, 7 (19%) patients were seizure free, 27 (73%) reported > 50% improvement, 2 (5%) patients reported < 50% improvement, and 1 patient discontinued therapy due to lack of efficacy. Weaning from concomitant antiepileptic drugs was obtained after 24 weeks from CBD introduction in 10 subjects. Mild and transitory adverse events, including somnolence or loss of appetite, occurred in nine (25%) patients.Discussion and Conclusion: We showed the efficacy of a CBD-based oil formulation with few significant side effects in patients with TRE of various etiologies

Modeling seizures in the Human Phenotype Ontology according to contemporary ILAE concepts makes big phenotypic data tractable

Abstract Objective The clinical features of epilepsy determine how it is defined, which in turn guides management. Therefore, consideration of the fundamental clinical entities that comprise an epilepsy is essential in the study of causes, trajectories, and treatment responses. The Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO) is used widely in clinical and research genetics for concise communication and modeling of clinical features, allowing extracted data to be harmonized using logical inference. We sought to redesign the HPO seizure subontology to improve its consistency with current epileptological concepts, supporting the use of large clinical data sets in high-throughput clinical and research genomics. Methods We created a new HPO seizure subontology based on the 2017 International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) Operational Classification of Seizure Types, and integrated concepts of status epilepticus, febrile, reflex, and neonatal seizures at different levels of detail. We compared the HPO seizure subontology prior to, and following, our revision, according to the information that could be inferred about the seizures of 791 individuals from three independent cohorts: 2 previously published and 150 newly recruited individuals. Each cohort's data were provided in a different format and harmonized using the two versions of the HPO. Results The new seizure subontology increased the number of descriptive concepts for seizures 5-fold. The number of seizure descriptors that could be annotated to the cohort increased by 40 and the total amount of information about individuals' seizures increased by 38\%. The most important qualitative difference was the relationship of focal to bilateral tonic-clonic seizure to generalized-onset and focal-onset seizures. Significance We have generated a detailed contemporary conceptual map for harmonization of clinical seizure data, implemented in the official 2020-12-07 HPO release and freely available at hpo.jax.org. This will help to overcome the phenotypic bottleneck in genomics, facilitate reuse of valuable data, and ultimately improve diagnostics and precision treatment of the epilepsies