Work

Structural and functional alterations in MRI-negative drug-resistant epilepsy and associated gene expression features

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: • Altered brain morphology and regional activity in DRE patients may be associated with abnormal gene expression related to nervous system development. • SP1, as an important transcription factor, plays an important role in the mechanism of drug resistance. • Abnormal expression in adaptive immunity was found in gene expression analysis of mechanisms of epilepsy. • Abnormalities in protein interactions in gene expression related to cardiovascular function revealed the pathological mechanism of sudden cardiac death in epilepsy patients in terms of genetics. Neuroimaging techniques have been widely used in the study of epilepsy. However, structural and functional changes in the MRI-negative drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE) and the genetic mechanisms behind the structural alterations remain poorly understood. Using structural and functional MRI, we analyzed gray matter volume (GMV) and regional homogeneity (ReHo) in DRE, drug-sensitive epilepsy (DSE) and healthy controls. Gene expression data from Allen human brain atlas and GMV/ReHo were evaluated to obtain drug resistance-related and epilepsy-associated gene expression and compared with real transcriptional data in blood. We found structural and functional alterations in the cerebellum of DRE patients, which may be related to the mechanisms of drug resistance in DRE. Our study confirms that changes in brain morphology and regional activity in DRE patients may be associated with abnormal gene expression related to nervous system development. And SP1, as an important transcription factor, plays an important role in the mechanism of drug resistance. Gene expression data from the Allen Human Brain Atlas and gray matter volumes were evaluated in DRE and DSE to obtain drug resistance-associated and epilepsy-disease-associated gene expression, which was compared to real transcriptional data in blood.

Source: NeuroImage

DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120908