Inflammation may drive Dravet syndrome, offering a potential new treatment target
Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine have identified that an overactive immune response, specifically the cGAS-STING-interferon pathway, may drive Dravet syndrome. This discovery suggests that targeting inflammation could provide a new therapeutic approach for this severe form of childhood epilepsy.
Why it matters
It shifts the understanding of Dravet syndrome from being purely an electrical signaling disorder to one involving the immune system, opening doors for novel drug development.
edited by Lisa Lock , reviewed by Robert Egan
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Add as preferred source Brain activity traces recorded from different brain regions show frequent seizure-like activity in Dravet mouse models (left), while Dravet mouse models with genetically reduced cGAS (right) show fewer seizure-like events. Credit: Gan Lab An overactive immune response in the brain may play a role in Dravet syndrome, a rare and severe genetic epilepsy that typically begins in infancy, according to Weill Cornell Medicine researchers. Children with the condition experience frequent seizures that are often difficult to control with medication and may also face developmental, cognitive and behavioral challenges. Until now, most research has focused on how a mutation in the SCN1A gene disrupts electrical signaling in the brain.
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