Researchers from Trinity College Dublin have today announced findings of new research which could lead to new treatments for drug-resistant epilepsy.
While our brain makes up a small percentage of our body mass, it is responsible for expending up to 20% of our daily energy production. Our brains produce this energy via a network of capillaries that are called the blood-brain-barrier or BBB.
In investigating the mechanisms of the BBB, it has been shown how seizure activity can disrupt how the BBB works in supplying energy to our brains. However, the research has also shown how restoring levels of a protein called claudin 5 in the BBB could help to prevent seizures.
In the video below, Dr. Mathew Campbell, Dr. Chris Greene & Dr. Colin Doherty speak about and explain their research in further detail.
The research was supported by the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) FutureNeuro Centre, the Irish Research Council (IRC), the St James’s Hospital foundation and the Ellen Mayston Bates bequest in the Trinity Foundation.
We would like to congratulate all involved in this research study for their exciting discovery. This study is another acknowledgement of the world-leading epilepsy research which is taking place right here in Ireland.
We look forward to hearing more from the researchers on their work following this discovery and we will provide further updates on our website and social media channels.
If you would like to read more about this research in further detail, you can read the paper in full on the medical journal, Nature communications.