Paediatric intractable epilepsy syndromes: changing concepts in diagnosis and management.

Epilepsy surgery for drug-resistant childhood epilepsy is not new. However, brain imaging, surgical and anaesthetic techniques have improved to the extent that they are now as much safer and realistic option than they were in the past. Further, the range of surgical candidates is wide, and previous concepts about likely surgical candidates are now challenged as children with previously thought widespread or apparent multifocal disease are evaluated. Outcomes for seizure freedom range from 40 to 80 % depending on the underlying aetiology and the extent of resection. However, the aims of surgery may include seizure reduction in some and improvement in neurodevelopment and behaviour in others, which are less -predictable. Epilepsy surgery in children is no longer a last resort. Children thought to be likely candidates should be evaluated early in their natural history to optimise outcomes in the long term.

''Intraventricular'' hemorrhage and cystic periventricular leukomalacia in preterm infants: how are they related?

Intraventricular hemorrhage and cystic periventricular leukomalacia are often co-occurring characteristics of brain damage in preterm infants. Using data from 1016 infants born before 30 completed weeks' gestational age, we sought to clarify the relationship between severe intraventricular hemorrhage and cystic periventricular leukomalacia, with special emphasis on common antecedents and potential confounding. After comparing risk factors for intraventricular hemorrhage grades 1 through 4 and cystic periventricular leukomalacia, it appears the risk patterns for intraventricular hemorrhage grade 3, intraventricular hemorrhage grade 4, and cystic periventricular leukomalacia differ. The association between intraventricular hemorrhage grade 3 and cystic periventricular leukomalacia differs appreciably from the association between intraventricular hemorrhage grade 4 and cystic periventricular leukomalacia, supporting the notion that intraventricular hemorrhage grade 3 and intraventricular hemorrhage grade 4 are different entities. The presence of intraventricular hemorrhage grade 3 and intraventricular hemorrhage grade 4 increases the risk of cystic periventricular leukomalacia, even after adjusting for potential confounders. This raises the possibility that intraventricular hemorrhage grade 3 and intraventricular hemorrhage grade 4 cause cystic periventricular leukomalacia.

White matter damage impairs adaptive recovery more than cortical damage in an in silico model of activity-dependent plasticity.

Little is understood of how damaged white matter interacts with developmental plasticity. The authors propose that computational neuroscience methods are underused in this problem. In this article, they present a nondeterministic, in silico model of activity-dependent plasticity. Using this model, they compared the impact of neuronal cell loss or axonal dysfunction on the ability of the system to generate, maintain, and recover synapses. The results suggest the axonal dysfunction seen in white matter injury is a greater burden to adaptive plasticity and recovery than is the neuronal loss of cortical injury. Better understanding of the interaction between features of preterm brain injury and developmental plasticity is an essential component for improving recovery.

Developmental regulation of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole-propionic acid receptor subunit expression in forebrain and relationship to regional susceptibility to hypoxic/ischemic injury. II. Human cerebral white matter and cortex.

This report is the second of a two-part evaluation of developmental differences in alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole-propionic acid receptor (AMPAR) subunit expression in cell populations within white matter and cortex. In part I, we reported that, in rat, developmental expression of Ca2+-permeable (GluR2-lacking) AMPARs correlated at the regional and cellular level with increased susceptibility to hypoxia/ischemia (H/I), suggesting an age-specific role of these receptors in the pathogenesis of brain injury. Part II examines the regional and cellular progression of AMPAR subunits in human white matter and cortex from midgestation through early childhood. Similarly to the case in the rodent, there is a direct correlation between selective vulnerability to H/I and expression of GluR2-lacking AMPARs in human brain. For midgestational cases aged 20-24 postconceptional weeks (PCW) and for premature infants (25-37 PCW), we found that radial glia, premyelinating oligodendrocytes, and subplate neurons transiently expressed GluR2-lacking AMPARs. Notably, prematurity represents a developmental window of selective vulnerability for white matter injury, such as periventricular leukomalacia (PVL). During term (38-42 PCW) and postterm neonatal (43-46 PCW) periods, age windows characterized by increased susceptibility to cortical injury and seizures, GluR2 expression was low in the neocortex, specifically on cortical pyramidal and nonpyramidal neurons. This study indicates that Ca2+-permeable AMPAR blockade may represent an age-specific therapeutic strategy for potential use in humans. Furthermore, these data help to validate specific rodent maturational stages as appropriate models for evaluation of H/I pathophysiology.

Developmental regulation of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole-propionic acid receptor subunit expression in forebrain and relationship to regional susceptibility to hypoxic/ischemic injury. I. Rodent cerebral white matter and cortex.

This is the first part of a two-part study to investigate the cellular distribution and temporal regulation of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole-propionic acid receptor (AMPAR) subunits in the developing white matter and cortex in rat (part I) and human (part II). Western blot and immunocytochemistry were used to evaluate the differential expression of AMPAR subunits on glial and neuronal subtypes during the first 3 postnatal weeks in the Long Evans and Sprague Dawley rat strains. In Long Evans rats during the first postnatal week, GluR2-lacking AMPARs were expressed predominantly on white matter cells, including radial glia, premyelinating oligodendrocytes, and subplate neurons, whereas, during the second postnatal week, these AMPARs were highly expressed on cortical neurons, coincident with decreased expression on white matter cells. Immunocytochemical analysis revealed that cell-specific developmental changes in AMPAR expression occurred 2-3 days earlier by chronological age in Sprague Dawley rats compared with Long Evans rats, despite overall similar temporal sequencing. In both white and gray matter, the periods of high GluR2 deficiency correspond to those of regional susceptibility to hypoxic/ischemic injury in each of the two rat strains, supporting prior studies suggesting a critical role for Ca2+-permeable AMPARs in excitotoxic cellular injury and epileptogenesis. The developmental regulation of these receptor subunits strongly suggests that Ca2+ influx through GluR2-lacking AMPARs may play an important role in neuronal and glial development and injury in the immature brain. Moreover, as demonstrated in part II, there are striking similarities between rat and human in the regional and temporal maturational regulation of neuronal and glial AMPAR expression.

12-Lipoxygenase plays a key role in cell death caused by glutathione depletion and arachidonic acid in rat oligodendrocytes.

Oxidative injury to premyelinating oligodendrocytes (preOLs) in developing white matter has been implicated in the pathogenesis of periventricular leukomalacia, the lesion underlying most cases of cerebral palsy in premature infants. In this study, we investigated the pathways of OL death induced by intracellular glutathione (GSH) depletion. We found that the lipoxygenase (LOX) inhibitors AA-861 and BMD-122 (N-benzyl-N-hydroxy-5-phenylpentamide; BHPP), but not the cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibitor indomethacin, fully protected the cells from GSH depletion caused by cystine deprivation. Arachidonic acid (AA), the substrate for 12-LOX, potentiated the toxicity of mild cystine deprivation and at higher concentration was itself toxic. This toxicity was also blocked by 12-LOX inhibitors. Consistent with a role for 12-LOX in the cell death pathway, 12-LOX activity increased following cystine deprivation in OLs. Blocking 12-LOX with AA-861 effectively inhibited the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) induced by cystine deprivation. These data suggest that, in OLs, intracellular GSH depletion leads to activation of 12-LOX, ROS accumulation and cell death. Mature OLs were more resistant than preOLs to cystine deprivation. The difference in sensitivity was not due to a difference in 12-LOX activity but rather appeared to be related to the presence of stronger antioxidant defense mechanisms in mature OLs. These results suggest that 12-LOX activation plays a key role in oxidative stress-induced OL death.

Glutamate receptor-mediated oligodendrocyte toxicity in periventricular leukomalacia: a protective role for topiramate.

Periventricular leukomalacia is a form of hypoxic-ischemic cerebral white matter injury seen most commonly in premature infants and is the major antecedent of cerebral palsy. Glutamate receptor-mediated excitotoxicity is a predominant mechanism of hypoxic-ischemic injury to developing cerebral white matter. We have demonstrated previously the protective effect of AMPA-kainate-type glutamate receptor blockade in a rodent model of periventricular leukomalacia. The present study explores the therapeutic potential of glutamate receptor blockade for hypoxic-ischemic white matter injury. We demonstrate that AMPA receptors are expressed on developing human oligodendrocytes that populate fetal white matter at 23-32 weeks gestation, the period of highest risk for periventricular leukomalacia. We show that the clinically available anticonvulsant topiramate, when administered post-insult in vivo, is protective against selective hypoxic-ischemic white matter injury and decreases the subsequent neuromotor deficits. We further demonstrate that topiramate attenuates AMPA-kainate receptor-mediated cell death and calcium influx, as well as kainate-evoked currents in developing oligodendrocytes, similar to the AMPA-kainate receptor antagonist 6-nitro-7-sulfamoylbenzo-(f)quinoxaline-2,3-dione (NBQX). Notably, protective doses of NBQX and topiramate do not affect normal maturation and proliferation of oligodendrocytes either in vivo or in vitro. Taken together, these results suggest that AMPA-kainate receptor blockade may have potential for translation as a therapeutic strategy for periventricular leukomalacia and that the mechanism of protective efficacy of topiramate is caused at least in part by attenuation of excitotoxic injury to premyelinating oligodendrocytes in developing white matter.

Mature myelin basic protein-expressing oligodendrocytes are insensitive to kainate toxicity.

We examined the vulnerability to excitotoxicity of rat oligodendrocytes in dissociated cell culture at different developmental stages. Mature oligodendrocytes that express myelin basic protein were resistant to excitotoxic injury produced by kainate, whereas earlier stages in the oligodendrocyte lineage were vulnerable to this insult. To test the hypothesis that the sensitivity of immature oligodendrocytes and the resistance of mature oligodendrocytes to kainate toxicity were due to differences in membrane responsiveness to kainate, we used whole-cell patch-clamp recording. Oligodendrocyte precursors in cultures vulnerable to kainate toxicity responded to 500 microM kainate with large inward currents, whereas mature myelin basic protein-expressing oligodendrocytes in cultures resistant to kainate toxicity showed no clear response to application of this agonist. We assayed expression of glutamate receptor subunits (GluR) -2, -4, -6, -7, and KA2 using immunoblot analysis and found that expression of all of these glutamate receptors was significantly down-regulated in mature oligodendrocytes. These results suggest a striking developmental regulation of glutamate receptors in oligodendrocytes and suggest that the vulnerability of oligodendrocytes to non- N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor-mediated excitotoxicity might be much greater in developing oligodendrocytes than after the completion of myelination.

The toll-like receptor TLR4 is necessary for lipopolysaccharide-induced oligodendrocyte injury in the CNS.

The immediate or innate immune response is the first line of defense against diverse microbial pathogens and requires the expression of recently discovered toll-like receptors (TLRs). TLR4 serves as a specific receptor for lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and is localized on the surface of a subset of mammalian cells. Although innate immunity is a necessary host defense against microbial pathogens, the consequences of its activation in the CNS can be deleterious, as we show here in a developing neural model. We examined the major non-neuronal cell types in the CNS for expression of TLR4 and found that microglia expressed high levels, whereas astrocytes and oligodendrocytes expressed none. Consistent with TLR4 expression solely in microglia, we show that microglia are the only CNS glial cells that bind fluorescently tagged lipopolysaccharide. Lipopolysaccharide led to extensive oligodendrocyte death in culture only under conditions in which microglia were present. To determine whether TLR4 is necessary for lipopolysaccharide-induced oligodendrocyte death in mixed glial cultures, we studied cultures generated from mice bearing a loss-of-function mutation in the tlr4 gene. Lipopolysaccharide failed to induce oligodendrocyte death in such cultures, in contrast to the death induced in cultures from wild-type mice. Finally, stereotactic intracerebral injection of lipopolysaccharide into the developing pericallosal white matter of immature rodents resulted in loss of oligodendrocytes and hypomyelination and periventricular cysts. Our data provide a general mechanistic link between (1) lipopolysaccharide and similar microbial molecular motifs and (2) injury to oligodendrocytes and myelin as occurs in periventricular leukomalacia and multiple sclerosis.