Imaging Serotonin and Epilepsy

Epilepsy News From: Wednesday, April 24, 2013

In the March 20, 2013 early view issue of the journal Neurology, Doctors Martinez and colleagues from the National Institutes of Health Epilepsy Center present a fascinating imaging study looking at imaging of temporal lobe epilepsy and depression using special PET techniques. In this study, both patients with drug resistant epilepsy and healthy volunteers had PET imaging specifically looking for a 5-HT receptor which is related to serotonin, which is linked to depression.

Their findings showed there was a particularly higher increase in signal in insular cortex, trend for the fusiform gyrus suggesting relatively reduced transporter activity in subjects with both temporal lobe epilepsy and depression, as compared to subjects with temporal lobe epilepsy alone. This implies a compensatory mechanism for 5-HT 1A receptor loss. Altered serotonergic mechanisms have an important role in temporal lobe epilepsy and depression.

What does this mean?

This study provides evidence for involvement of serotonin receptors in epilepsy and its association with depression, supporting results from previous clinical and imaging studies. The investigators found an increase in DASB asymmetry in the insula and fusiform gyrus and thus relatively reduced transporter activity in subjects with both temporal lobe epilepsy and depression as compared to subjects with temporal lobe epilepsy alone. This finding could be important for perhaps ascertaining new ways of detecting epilepsy or it could be a way of understanding how depression impacts various individuals with epilepsy. More work is clearly needed to understand what was found here but this is an important new finding.

Authored by

Joseph I. Sirven MD

Reviewed Date

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

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