PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

How metabolism and brain activity are linked

Study sheds light on why diet may help control seizures in epilepsy patients

2014-01-16
(Press-News.org) Contact information: Chris Chipello
christopher.chipello@mcgill.ca
514-398-4201
McGill University
How metabolism and brain activity are linked Study sheds light on why diet may help control seizures in epilepsy patients A new study by scientists at McGill University and the University of Zurich shows a direct link between metabolism in brain cells and their ability to signal information. The research may explain why the seizures of many epilepsy patients can be controlled by a specially formulated diet.

The findings, published Jan. 16 in Nature Communications, reveal that metabolism controls the processes that inhibit brain activity, such as that involved in convulsions. The study uncovers a link between how brain cells make energy and how the same cells signal information – processes that neuroscientists have often assumed to be distinct and separate.

"Inhibition in the brain is commonly targeted in clinical practice," notes Derek Bowie, Canada Research Chair in Receptor Pharmacology at McGill and corresponding author of the study. "For example, drugs that alleviate anxiety, induce anesthesia, or even control epilepsy work by strengthening brain inhibition. These pharmacological approaches can have their drawbacks, since patients often complain of unpleasant side effects."

The experiments showed an unexpected link between how the mitochondria of brain cells make energy and how the same cells signal information. Brain cells couple these two independent functions by using small chemical messengers, called reactive oxygen species (or ROS), that are normally associated with signaling cell death. While ROS are known to have roles in diseases of aging, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, the new study shows they also play important roles in the healthy brain.

The findings emerged from an ongoing collaboration between Prof. Bowie's laboratory in McGill's Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics and a research team headed by Dr. Jean-Marc Fritschy, Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Zurich and current director of the Neuroscience Center Zurich (ZNZ). The researchers have the longer term aim of trying to understand why the seizures of many epilepsy patients -- especially young children – can be treated with a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet known as the ketogenic diet.

The idea that diet can control seizures was noticed as far back as ancient Greece, during periods of fasting. From the 1920s until the 1950s, the ketogenic diet was widely used to treat epilepsy patients. With the introduction of anticonvulsant drugs in the 1950s, the dietary approach fell out of favour with doctors. But because anticonvulsant drugs don't work for 20% to 30% of patients, there has been a resurgence in use of the ketogenic diet.

"Since our study shows that brain cells have their own means to strengthen inhibition," explains Prof Bowie, "our work points to potentially new ways in which to control a number of important neurological conditions including epilepsy."

### The research was supported by funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Swiss National Science Foundation, the Brain@McGill--Neuroscience Science Center Zurich partnership, the Savoy Foundation and the Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec.


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Study identifies drug that could improve treatment of PTSD

2014-01-16
Study identifies drug that could improve treatment of PTSD New study identifies drug that could improve treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder CAMBRIDGE, Mass-- Nearly 8 million Americans suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a condition ...

Preventing cell death from infection: Scientists demonstrate method to find new therapies

2014-01-16
Preventing cell death from infection: Scientists demonstrate method to find new therapies LA JOLLA, CA—January 16, 2014—Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have demonstrated the power of a new drug discovery technique, which allows them to find—relatively ...

5,900 natural gas leaks discovered under Washington, D.C.

2014-01-16
5,900 natural gas leaks discovered under Washington, D.C. A dozen locations had concentrations high enough to trigger explosion DURHAM, NC – More than 5,893 leaks from aging natural gas pipelines have been found under the streets of Washington, D.C. by a research team from Duke ...

Scientists discover 2 proteins that control chandelier cell architecture

2014-01-16
Scientists discover 2 proteins that control chandelier cell architecture Chandelier cells, a group of powerful inhibitory neurons, are important in epilepsy and schizophrenia Cold Spring Harbor, NY – Chandelier cells are neurons that use their unique shape to ...

Research sheds new light on heritability of disease

2014-01-16
Research sheds new light on heritability of disease Study explores the role DNA plays to predispose individuals to diseases BOSTON - A group of international researchers, led by a research fellow in the Harvard Medical School-affiliated ...

Immune cells may heal an injured heart

2014-01-16
Immune cells may heal an injured heart The immune system plays an important role in the heart's response to injury. But until recently, confusing data made it difficult to distinguish the immune factors that encourage the heart to heal following ...

Space station MAXI-mizing our understanding of the universe

2014-01-16
Space station MAXI-mizing our understanding of the universe Look up at the night sky ... do you see it? The stars of the cosmos bursting in magnificent explosions of death and rebirth! No? Well, then maybe you are not looking through the "eyes" of the Monitor ...

Unsafe at any level

2014-01-16
Unsafe at any level Very low blood alcohol content associated with causing car crashes Even "minimally buzzed" drivers are more often to blame for fatal car crashes than the sober drivers they collide with, reports a University of California, San Diego ...

Meltwater from Tibetan glaciers floods pastures

2014-01-16
Meltwater from Tibetan glaciers floods pastures Glaciers are important indicators of climate change. Global warming causes mountain glaciers to melt, which, apart from the shrinking of the Greenlandic and Antarctic ice sheets, is regarded as one of the main ...

Typhoid fever -- A race against time

2014-01-16
Typhoid fever -- A race against time The life-threatening disease typhoid fever results from the ongoing battle between the bacterial pathogen Salmonella and the immune cells of the body. Prof. Dirk Bumann's research group at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel has ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

SwRI-built instruments to monitor, provide advanced warning of space weather events

Breakthrough advances sodium-based battery design

New targeted radiation therapy shows near-complete response in rare sarcoma patients

Does physical frailty contribute to dementia?

Soccer headers and brain health: Study finds changes within folds of the brain

Decoding plants’ language of light

UNC Greensboro study finds ticks carrying Lyme disease moving into western NC

New implant restores blood pressure balance after spinal cord injury

New York City's medical specialist advantage may be an illusion, new NYU Tandon research shows

Could a local anesthetic that doesn’t impair motor function be within reach?

1 in 8 Italian cetacean strandings show evidence of fishery interactions, with bottlenose and striped dolphins most commonly affected, according to analysis across four decades of data and more than 5

In the wild, chimpanzees likely ingest the equivalent of several alcoholic drinks every day

Warming of 2°C intensifies Arctic carbon sink but weakens Alpine sink, study finds

Bronze and Iron Age cultures in the Middle East were committed to wine production

Indian adolescents are mostly starting their periods at an earlier age than 25 years ago

Temporary medical centers in Gaza known as "Medical Points" (MPs) treat an average of 117 people daily with only about 7 staff per MP

Rates of alcohol-induced deaths among the general population nearly doubled from 1999 to 2024

PLOS One study: In adolescent lab animals exposed to cocaine, High-Intensity Interval Training boosts aversion to the drug

Scientists identify four ways our bodies respond to COVID-19 vaccines

Stronger together: A new fusion protein boosts cancer immunotherapy

Hidden brain waves as triggers for post-seizure wandering

Music training can help the brain focus

Researcher develop the first hydride ion prototype battery

MIT researchers find a more precise way to edit the genome

‘Teen’ pachycephalosaur butts into fossil record

Study finds cocoa extract supplement reduced key marker of inflammation and aging

Obesity treatment with bariatric surgery vs GLP-1 receptor agonists

Nicotinamide for skin cancer chemoprevention

Novel way to ‘rev up’ brown fat burns calories, limits obesity in mice

USC Stem Cell-led team makes major advance toward building a synthetic kidney

[Press-News.org] How metabolism and brain activity are linked
Study sheds light on why diet may help control seizures in epilepsy patients