Researchers found that a dietary supplement called glucosamine
helped to reduce neural excitability in rodents.
A new study reveals how a dietary supplement could be used to
reduce excitability in brain cells " a known trigger of seizures "
opening the door to possible new treatments for epilepsy.
Researchers speculated that reductions in a protein modification
called O-GlcNAcylation in the brain cells of rats and mice might lead to neural
excitability, which is a known trigger of seizures.
In the new study, increasing levels of this protein with
glucosamine " which is a supplement used to help reduce pain in osteoarthritis,
among other conditions " was found to reduce neural excitability in
rodents.
The findings not only help to shed light on the processes behind
neural excitability, but they may also have identified a new treatment target
for epilepsy.
Study co-author Prof. John Chatham, of the Department of Pathology
at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and colleagues recently reported
their findings in The Journal of Neuroscience.
Epilepsy is a neurological disorder that is estimated to affect
around 3 million adults and 470,000 children in the United States.
The condition is characterized by unpredictable, recurrent
seizures, which can occur when brain cells become hyperactive. This may cause
surges of electrical activity that disrupt signaling between brain cells.
In a previous study, Prof. Chatham and team found that increases
in protein O-GlcNAcylation are associated with a reduction in the strength of
synapses in the hippocampus of the brain. Synapses are structures that allow
neurons to transmit signals to each other.
The team notes that neural excitability in the hippocampus "
or the learning and memory region of the brain " is often implicated in
people with epilepsy.
Given their previous findings, the researchers hypothesized that
increasing O-GlcNAcylation levels could help to reduce neural excitability,
thereby preventing seizures.
