Changes in Gfap and S100 Immunoreactivity in the Temporal Lobe in Pediatric Patients with Drug-Resistant Epilepsy Commoners

Up to 10.5 million children suffer from epilepsy, one-third of whom develop drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE) requiring surgical treatment. In temporal lobe epilepsy, drug resistance reaches 38% of all cases, and patients with this form of the disease have a higher risk of disability and mortality. The European Commission of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) has identified glial mechanisms of seizures and epileptogenesis as a research priority. The purpose of our study was to conduct a comparative analysis of the level of expression of the cytoskeletal protein glial fibrillar acid protein (GFAP) and the protective protein S100 in children with epilepsy associated with focal cortical dysplasia (FCD). Biopsy material from fragments of the temporal lobe of the brain was retrospectively studied at pathology department of Polenov Neurosurgical Institute, obtained intraoperatively from 16 patients (7 girls, 9 boys) with locally caused EEG aged from two to 17 years, with an average age of 9.5 years. Autopsy material from six patients who died from somatic diseases and had no history of neurological disorders was used as a comparison group. Of these, 2 girls and 4 boys aged from 3 to 14 years, with an average age of 8 years, were observed in our study. We observed a significant increase in the expression of GFAP and S100 in the brain tissue of children with FCD when simile to the comparison group. There were no differences in the expression of GFAP and S100 depending on the gender or age of the patients. The correlation between GFAP and S100 proteins was weak in all regions studied. Thus, in the area of the epileptic focus occur in children, active processes of repair of nervous tissue and the mechanisms for increasing the levels of the studied proteins can serve as potential therapeutic targets in DRE therapy, which will prevent secondary neurodegeneration in these patients.