RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: This study is designed to estimate the epidemiology of epilepsy in Kazakhstan, using a large-scale administrative health database during 2014-2020. METHODS: Using the Unified National Electronic Health System of Kazakhstan over a seven-year span, we explored incidence and prevalence rates, disability-adjusted life years (DALY), and all-cause mortality. Regression models using Cox proportional hazards were used to analyze the sociodemographic, mental, behavioral, and neurological factors affecting survival. Overall analyses were performed using STATA (V.16). RESULTS: The total cohort comprised of 82,907 patients, with a significant increase in the incidence of epilepsy from 26.15 in 2014 to 88.80 in 2020 per 100,000 people. Similar trends were observed in the prevalence rates, which tripled from 26.06 in 2014 to 73.10 in 2020. While mortality rates fluctuated, the elderly and children had the greatest rates of 9.97 and 2.98 per 1000 person-years respectively. DALYs revealed a substantial disease burden, with 153,532 DALYs (824.5 per 100,000) being lost during the study period. A few comorbidities, such as cerebral palsy (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 2.23) and central nervous system atrophy (aHR, 27.79), markedly elevated all-cause mortality. Furthermore, extrapyramidal and movement disorders (aHR 2.16, p = 0.06) and demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system (aHR 6.36, p = 0.06) showed a trend toward increased mortality risk. CONCLUSION: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study from Central Asia exploring a large epilepsy cohort. The findings highlight the need for targeted interventions to address the growing burden of epilepsy, particularly among children, male sex, and those with neurological comorbities.
RESUMO
Pericytes possess high multipotent features and cell plasticity, and produce angiogenic and neurotrophic factors that indicate their high regenerative potential. The aim of this study was to investigate whether transplantation of adipose-derived pericytes can improve functional recovery and neurovascular plasticity after ischemic stroke in rats. Rat adipose-derived pericytes were isolated from subcutaneous adipose tissue by fluorescence-activated cell sorting. Adult male Wistar rats were subjected to 90 min of middle cerebral artery occlusion followed by intravenous injection of rat adipose-derived pericytes 24 h later. Functional recovery evaluations were performed at 1, 7, 14, and 28 days after injection of rat adipose-derived pericytes. Angiogenesis and neurogenesis were examined in rat brains using immunohistochemistry. It was observed that intravenous injection of adipose-derived pericytes significantly improved recovery of neurological function in rats with stroke compared to phosphate-buffered saline-treated controls. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that the number of blood capillaries was significantly increased along the ischemic boundary zone of the cortex and striatum in stroke rats treated with adipose-derived pericytes. In addition, treatment with adipose-derived pericytes increased the number of doublecortin positive neuroblasts. Our data suggest that transplantation of adipose-derived pericytes can significantly improve the neurologic status and contribute to neurovascular remodeling in rats after ischemic stroke. These data provide a new insight for future cell therapies that aim to treat ischemic stroke patients.