Animal Models Of Epilepsy
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Animal Models Of Epilepsy
Animal models of epilepsy have helped to advance the understanding of how normal brains develop epilepsy (a process known as Epileptogenesis), and have been used in pre-clinical trials of antiepileptic drugs. Epilepsy is a set of syndromes which have in common a predisposition to recurrent epileptic seizures A seizure is a sudden, brief disruption of brain activity caused by abnormal, excessive, or synchronous neuronal firing. Depending on the regions of the brain involved, seizures can lead to changes in movement, sensation, behavior, awareness, o .... Animal models of epilepsy and seizures can be divided into four basic categories: genetic animal models, chemically induced models, electrically induced models, and in more recent years infection-induced models. New models are using light-gated ion channels to turn on cell firing and these are part of optogenetic induction models of epilepsy. References {{Reflist Epilepsy ...
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Animal Models
A model organism is a non-human species that is extensively studied to understand particular biological phenomena, with the expectation that discoveries made in the model organism will provide insight into the workings of other organisms. Model organisms are widely used to research human disease when human experimentation would be unfeasible or unethical. This strategy is made possible by the common descent of all living organisms, and the conservation of metabolic and developmental pathways and genetic material over the course of evolution. Research using animal models has been central to most of the achievements of modern medicine. It has contributed most of the basic knowledge in fields such as human physiology and biochemistry, and has played significant roles in fields such as neuroscience and infectious disease. The results have included the near- eradication of polio and the development of organ transplantation, and have benefited both humans and animals. From 1910 to ...
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Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a group of Non-communicable disease, non-communicable Neurological disorder, neurological disorders characterized by a tendency for recurrent, unprovoked Seizure, seizures. A seizure is a sudden burst of abnormal electrical activity in the brain that can cause a variety of symptoms, ranging from brief lapses of awareness or muscle jerks to prolonged convulsions. These episodes can result in physical injuries, either directly, such as broken bones, or through causing accidents. The diagnosis of epilepsy typically requires at least two unprovoked seizures occurring more than 24 hours apart. In some cases, however, it may be diagnosed after a single unprovoked seizure if clinical evidence suggests a high risk of recurrence. Isolated seizures that occur without recurrence risk or are provoked by identifiable causes are not considered indicative of epilepsy. The underlying cause is often unknown, but epilepsy can result from brain injury, stroke, infections, Brain tumor, ...
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Epileptogenesis
Epileptogenesis refers to the gradual process through which a previously non-epileptic brain undergoes pathological changes that ultimately lead to the development of epilepsy. Epilepsy is a chronic neurological condition characterized by an enduring predisposition to generate epileptic seizures, which are episodes of abnormal, hypersynchronous neuronal firing. It encompasses the transformation of neuronal networks following an initial insult, such as trauma, infection, or prolonged seizures, resulting in a brain capable of generating spontaneous recurrent seizures. This process is distinct from ictogenesis, which describes the immediate mechanisms underlying the initiation of individual seizure events. While ictogenesis accounts for seizure generation, epileptogenesis involves the long-term alterations that predispose the brain to recurrent seizures. Initiating events Epileptogenesis is typically triggered by an initial brain insult that disrupts normal neuronal networks and ...
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Pre-clinical Development
In drug development, preclinical development (also termed preclinical studies or nonclinical studies) is a stage of research that begins before clinical trials (testing in humans) and during which important feasibility, iterative testing and drug safety data are collected, typically in laboratory animals. The main goals of preclinical studies are to determine a starting, safe dose for first-in-human study and assess potential toxicity of the product, which typically include new medical devices, prescription drugs, and diagnostics. Companies use stylized statistics to illustrate the risks in preclinical research, such as that on average, only one in every 5,000 compounds that enters drug discovery to the stage of preclinical development becomes an approved drug. Types Each class of product may undergo different types of preclinical research. For instance, drugs may undergo pharmacodynamics (what the drug does to the body) (PD), pharmacokinetics (what the body does to th ...
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Antiepileptic Drugs
Anticonvulsants (also known as antiepileptic drugs, antiseizure drugs, or anti-seizure medications (ASM)) are a diverse group of pharmacological agents used in the treatment of epileptic seizures. Anticonvulsants are also used in the treatment of bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder, since many seem to act as mood stabilizers, and for the treatment of neuropathic pain. Anticonvulsants suppress the uncontrolled and excessive firing of neurons during seizures and in doing so can also prevent the spread of the seizure within the brain. Conventional antiepileptic drugs have diverse mechanisms of action but many block sodium channels or enhance γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) function. Several antiepileptic drugs have multiple or uncertain mechanisms of action. Next to voltage-gated sodium channels and components of the GABA system, their targets include GABAA receptors, the GABA transporter type 1, and GABA transaminase. Additional targets include voltage-gated calcium ...
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Syndrome
A syndrome is a set of medical signs and symptoms which are correlated with each other and often associated with a particular disease or disorder. The word derives from the Greek language, Greek σύνδρομον, meaning "concurrence". When a syndrome is paired with a definite cause this becomes a disease. In some instances, a syndrome is so closely linked with a pathogenesis or cause that disease#Terminology, the words ''syndrome'', ''disease'', and ''disorder'' end up being used interchangeably for them. This substitution of terminology often confuses the reality and meaning of medical diagnoses. This is especially true of heredity, inherited syndromes. About one third of all phenotypes that are listed in Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man, OMIM are described as dysmorphic, which usually refers to the facial gestalt. For example, Down syndrome, Wolf–Hirschhorn syndrome, and Andersen–Tawil syndrome are disorders with known pathogeneses, so each is more than just a set of sig ...
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Epileptic Seizures
A seizure is a sudden, brief disruption of brain activity caused by abnormal, excessive, or synchronous neuronal firing. Depending on the regions of the brain involved, seizures can lead to changes in movement, sensation, behavior, awareness, or consciousness. Symptoms vary widely. Some seizures involve subtle changes, such as brief lapses in attention or awareness (as seen in absence seizures), while others cause generalized convulsions with loss of consciousness ( tonic–clonic seizures). Most seizures last less than two minutes and are followed by a postictal period of confusion, fatigue, or other symptoms. A seizure lasting longer than five minutes is a medical emergency known as status epilepticus. Seizures are classified as provoked, when triggered by a known cause such as fever, head trauma, or metabolic imbalance, or unprovoked, when no immediate trigger is identified. Recurrent unprovoked seizures define the neurological condition epilepsy. Clinical features Seizure ...
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