Abstract #0158
NAA Is Reduced During the Latent Period Preceding Pilocarpine-Induced Epilepsy
Gomes W, Takahashi K, Pan C, Lado F, Hetherington H
Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Reductions in NAA enable localization of seizure foci in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). To determine whether deficits in NAA precede the onset of overt seizures or are solely a consequence of chronic seizures, we measured hippocampal NAA in the pilocarpine rat model of TLE. In this model of human TLE, NAA is reduced prior to the development of spontaneous seizures, suggesting that spectroscopic studies of NAA may provide an early marker of epileptogenesis. If validated in patients, this may allow identification of patients at risk for epilepsy following a first seizure.
