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The Electrophysiological Properties of Cortical Neurons in the Epileptic Foci of Children with Refractory Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

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Abstract

Temporal lobe epilepsy is a severe disorder of the central nervous system associated with an imbalance of excitation and inhibition in the brain, manifested by recurrent seizures. Approximately 30% of patients with epilepsy are pharmacoresistant, meaning that existing antiepileptic drugs can not completely control the seizures. One approach to treating refractory epilepsy is to surgically remove the seizure foci, usually located in the temporal cortex, hippocampus, or amygdala. This permits sustained remission in approximately 60–75% of cases. The study of morphological and functional features of neuronal networks in epileptic foci of patients with refractory temporal lobe epilepsy is necessary to understand the mechanisms of pathogenesis of this disease and to develop new approaches to its treatment. This study analyzed the electrophysiological properties of temporal cortex neurons obtained during surgical removal of epileptic foci in children with refractory temporal lobe epilepsy. The biophysical membrane properties of the neurons in brain slices were investigated using the patch-clamp method. We compared them with the properties of pyramidal neurons of the rat cortex. We found that human neurons are characterized by much higher excitability than rat neurons. They generate action potentials in response to minimal depolarization and maintain a high frequency of discharges. At the same time, they are characterized by a high membrane input resistance. The identified biophysical characteristics of neurons may underlie the pathological process leading to the generation of pharmacoresistant seizures in children with temporal lobe epilepsy.

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Funding

The work was supported by the RSF grant no. 20-75-00131.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Peterburg, Russia

    S. L. Malkin & A. V. Zaitsev

  2. Almazov National Medical Research Centre, St. Peterburg, Russia

    V. A. Khachatryan, E. V. Fedorov & A. V. Zaitsev

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  1. S. L. Malkin
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  2. V. A. Khachatryan
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  3. E. V. Fedorov
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  4. A. V. Zaitsev
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Contributions

Malkis S.L.—electrophysiological experiments, data analysis, writing of the article. Khachatryan V.A.—surgery, writing of the article. Fedorov E.V.—clinical data analysis, writing of the article. Zaitsev A.V.—experimental design, discussion of the results, writing of the article.

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Correspondence to S. L. Malkin.

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The authors declare no explicit or potential conflicts of interest in the publishing of this paper.

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Translated by S. Malkin

Russian Text © The Author(s), 2022, published in Rossiiskii Fiziologicheskii Zhurnal imeni I.M. Sechenova, 2022, Vol. 108, No. 2, pp. 183–201https://doi.org/10.1134/S0022093022010197.

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Malkin, S.L., Khachatryan, V.A., Fedorov, E.V. et al. The Electrophysiological Properties of Cortical Neurons in the Epileptic Foci of Children with Refractory Temporal Lobe Epilepsy. J Evol Biochem Phys 58, 215–229 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0022093022010197

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