In the media

Brain glial cells - a new target for future epilepsy treatment?

Kjell Heuser
Kjell Heuser
Senior consultant and Head of translational epilepsy research within the Epilepsy Research Group of Oslo (ERGO), Kjell Heuser, recently pointed to the glial cells as a possible new target for epilepsy treatment in a reader's letter to the Journal of the Norwegian Medical Association. This was also commented on by the Norwegian Brain Council. The authors behind the post are besides Kjell Heuser (pictured), Rune Enger, Toni Berger and Erik Taubøll.

New international project on the causes of epilepsy development after head injury in progress

From left: Gøril Storvig, Hild F. Sødal, Erik Taubøll and Eirik Helseth.
From left: Gøril Storvig, Hild F. Sødal, Erik Taubøll and Eirik Helseth.

The Epilepsy Research Group in Department of Neurology (ERGO - Epilepsy Research Group of Oslo) and the Department of Neurosurgery at Ullevål are now starting clinical studies of possible biomarkers for the development of epilepsy after head injuries. In the next round, it may be relevant to try out intervention treatment with medication.
The main study will be part of an international multi-center study we are now participating in and where Oslo could become one of the largest contributors. The project has received support from the CURE Epilepsy Foundation in the USA, which in turn has received USD 10 million from the US Department of Defense to study the mechanisms behind the development of post-traumatic epilepsy.

ERGO research presented at an open public meeting at Litteraturhuset

ERGO - Epilepsy Research Group of Oslo - presented their research at an open public meeting in September during the "Forskningsdagene 2020". Title of the meeting was: "Epilepsy - from basic research to modern clinical treatment".
Senior consultant, MD, PhD Kjell Heuser, discussed the role of glial cells in epilepsy. Thereafter, the PhD candidates Toni Berger, Cecilie Bugge Bakketun and Monika Mochol talked about epigentics in epilepsy (TB), how to use brain slices in the study of epilepsy (CBB) and the use of zebrafish in epilepsy research (MM) to understand basic mechanisms of epileptogenesis. 

New and important findings from the ERGO group: Glial cells play an important role in epilepsy

Kjetil Heuser (first author) and Rune Enger (last author)
Kjetil Heuser (first author) and Rune Enger (last author)

Scientitsts from the Epilepsy Research Group at the Nevrological Department, ERGO (Epilepsy Research Group of Oslo) have recently, in collaboration with the Letten Center at the University of Oslo, studied how the glia cells contribute actively and are crucial in epilepsy. They have demonstrate that the glial cells are activated prior to the neurons by seizures, which is completely new knowledge. The findings have been achieved through the combination of several completely new techniques that include high-resolution microscopy, the use of biosensors and advanced neurophysiology, and have recently been published in the journal "Cerebral Cortex".

The groundbreaking research on the role of glial cells in epilepsy has been thorougly presented in a popular science form in a feature article (in Norwegian) entitled "The forgotten cells of the brain - a new path into treatment of epilepsy" on the OUS blog "Ekspertsykehuset".