Article: Detection of generalized tonic-clonic seizures using surface electromyographic monitoring

Citation:

Halford, J., Sperling, M., Nair, D., Dlugos, D., Tatum, W., Harvey, J., French, J., Pollard, J., Faught, E., Noe, K., Henry, T., Jetter, G., Lie, O., Morgan, L., Girouard, M., Cardenas, D., Whitmire, L., Cavazos, J. (2017). Detection of generalized tonic-clonic seizures using surface electromyographic monitoring. Epilepsia, 58(11), 1861-1869.

Summary: A device that can detect generalized tonic-clonic seizures is of great importance, as GTCS put patients at the greatest risk for injury. The study used surface electromyographic signals recorded on the arm to detect when GTCS were going to occur. Although it gave one false-positive detection, it detected 95% of 20 GTCSs that occurred in 11 epileptic patients. The device was attached to a computer that allowed researchers to see the activation of certain and multiple muscles at once (the tonic (muscles becoming tense or rigid/stiffening) and clonic (jerking movements) stages of the GTCS). The surface EMG signals are recorded via electrodes placed on the biceps of the patients arms. These electrodes show muscle movement and whether the patients were in the tonic or clonic stage of their seizure. 

Article: Brain Distortions in Paitents with Primarily Generalized Tonic-Clonic Seizures

Citation:

Savic, I., Seitz, R., Pauli, S. (1998). Brain Distortions in Patients with Primarily Generalized Tonic-Clonic Seizures. Eplilepsia, 34(4), 364-370.

Summary: Patients who have generalized epilepsy are often found to lack brain abnormalities; CT scans and MRIs are often normal. However, PET scans show that patients with generalized tonic-clonic seizures do have brain abnormalities; increased density of BZD receptors in the deep cerebellar nuclei and decreased in the thalamus. This study aimed to use a computerized brain atlas to determine if patients with generalized tonic-clonic seizures have gross cerebral distortions or disproportions that in vivo imaging cannot detect. They took 10 patients with GTCS, 8 with PS, and 8 with PS + SG. All of their CT and MRI scans were normal, as they had no other neurological disorder. Participant groups were age matched, matched for age of seizure onset, antiepileptic drugs, as well as sex distribution. Control group included 20 healthy men (ages 20-34) who had no heredity for epilepsy or drug history. Those with GTCS differered from the controls in three ways: the total number of parameters required for adaptations was significantly higher, an AP and a caudocranial disproportion of the brain (elongation of the anterior portion of the brain relative to the posterior; a relative flattening of its caudal part), and their brains were absolutely slightly shorter in their frontaloccipital dimension and flatter in the dorsocaudal dimension.

Article: Generalized tonic-clonic seizures are accompanied by changes of interrelations within the autonomic nervous system

Citation:

Vieluf, S., Hasija, T., Schreier, P., Atrache, R., Hammond, S., Touserkani, F., Sarkis, R., Loddenkemper, T., Resinberger, C. (2021). Generalized tonic-clonic seizures are accompanied by changes of interrelations within the autonomic nervous system. Epilepsy & Behavior, 124, 108321.

Summary: The main purpose of this study was to evaluate whether multimodal peripheral ANS measures show interactions before and after seizures. This can provide a basis for the detection and classification of seizures, as well as seizure prediction, based on signals sent from the peripheral ANS. Patients were recruited from Boston's Chidlren Hospital and asked to wear a portable wristband (or around the ankle) device with built in sensors (Empatica E4 sensors). The sensors continuously recorded patients electrodermal activity (EDA), heart rate (HR), peripheral body temperature (TEMP), and respiratory rate (RR) before the onset of the seizure (preictal), during the seizure (ictal), and after the seizure (postictal) and compared to controls who did not have epilepsy. Seizure type was determined by two board-certified clinical epileptologists. Postictally, there was an increase in HR and EDA, as well as peripheral body temperature.

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Article:  Pentylenetetrazole-Induced Kindling Mouse Model

Citation:

Shimada, T., Yamagata, K. Pentylenetetrazole-Induced Kindling Mouse Model. J. Vis. Exp. (136), e56573, doi:10.3791/56573 (2018).

Summary: This paper was about inducing seizures in mice with a drug called Pentylenetetrazole. As we learned in class, this type of lesioning is called excitotoxic lesioning because it is done pharmaceutically, with a drug. This study looked at how effective Pentylenetetrazole was at causing seizures, as well as what increasing and decreasing the dosage did to the magnitude and type of seizure the mice experienced. This paper explained that Pentylenetetrazole is a GABA-A receptor antagonist, which supressed the function of onhibitory synapses, leading to increased neuronal activity. Specifically, this paper mentioned that an intraperitoneal injection of Pentylenetetrazole induced an acute, severe seizure at a high dose, while a single low-dose injection induces a mile seizure without convulsion. This study also have a step by step guide on how to do thise yourself, incase you are doing research on antiepileptic medication.

Article: The effects of the Brazilian antDinoponera quadriceps venom on chemically induced seizure models.

Citation:

Lopes K., Rios, E., Lima, C., Linhares, M., Torres, A., Havt, A., Quinet, Y., Fonteles, M., Martins, A. (2013). The effects of the Brazilian antDinoponera quadriceps venom on chemically induced seizure models. Neurochemistry International, 63(3) 141-145.

Summary: There are many issues with antiepileptic medications. Some people can have allergic reactions to these medications, or even just have really bad side effects. This is leading scientists to explore new anticonvulsant medications so this issue is eliminated. One way they are doing so it through venoms, as this idea was introduced through a paper I was reading. This paper looked at mice and induced seizures in them, using the same drug as my above MOTW paper, PTZ. They wanted to test the effects on the denatured venom, DqV, of the ant Dinoponera Quadriceps on chemically induced seizure mice models. As many other papers have mentioned, venoms of Hymenoptera contain a mixture of peptides and protiens that act on ion channels and receptors that function via NT release. This is important because this overlaps with how action potentials work. They pretreated adult male mice with varying dosages of DqV via two routes: intraperitoneal or endovenous. They then induced seizures using PTZ and looked at the results. I.P treatment allowed increased time until the first seizure and percentage of survival, however, E.V. treatment decreased time until the first seizure. They also measured the occurrance of oxidative stress/damage that occurs during convulsive processes in three areas of the brain and found that DqV can cause both neuroprotective and neurotoxic effects, depending on which route the DqV is administered through.