28.02.2018
Eva Luise Köhler im Gespräch mit Dr. Ulrike Hedrich-Klimosch und Kollegen
RESEARCH AWARD 2018

Help for children with severe early childhood epilepsy  

Sometimes it's just brief moments - tiny muscle twitches, a glance into space.  
And there are severe episodes: convulsions that shake the body, fainting, fear, confusion. Epilepsy comes out of the ambush. It takes control of life from one moment to the next. The problem of the disease: it can't always be treated.  

The disease

Das gilt auch für eine besonders schwere und seltene Form, bei der Mutationen im sogenannten KCNA2-Gen zu Störungen im Kaliumstoffwechsel des Gehirns führen. Derzeit sind nur rund 60 Fälle weltweit bekannt. Bereits im Kleinkindalter entwickeln sich Betroffene geistig verzögert und erleiden täglich schwere Anfälle. Viele können ohne Hilfe nicht laufen. Ein selbstbestimmtes Leben? Kaum möglich. Zumindest galt das bis vor ein paar Jahren.  

The research

A team of neuroscientists and physicians led by biologist Dr. Ulrike Hedrich-Klimosch from the Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research in Tübingen, Germany, has fundamentally changed the prognosis for the patients. The researchers identified the triggers of the rare form of epilepsy and found that patients suffering from a specific subtype of the disease benefited from a drug that has long been available: A compound used to treat multiple sclerosis. With the money awarded from the Eva Luise and Horst Köhler Foundation, the researchers were able to expand their studies and make the drug available to patients worldwide. It is now being used in eleven patients - with great success: the majority of the young patients can walk better, their mental development is less delayed and they suffer fewer seizures. Crucial is that the therapy has to begin as early as possible. To ensure this, the research team has created a freely accessible database that lists the various mutations in the KCNA gene family. This allows physicians to quickly decide in which cases a therapy can be considered.  

The future

The next step is to release the drug for standard therapy of this particular early childhood epilepsy, because it is not yet accessible to all patients. To achieve this, further clinical research is needed - a large-scale controlled trial is planned. "We hope to learn more about how the drug works," explains Dr. Ulrike Hedrich-Klimosch. The goal remains clear: to enable people with this severe form of epilepsy to live a life as free of symptoms as possible.  

The researchers
Dr. Ulrike Hedrich-Klimosch is a biologist at the Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research in Tübingen and first author of the study published in the journal Science Translational Medicine on the treatment of a particularly severe form of early childhood epilepsy. Together with Dr. Stephan Lauxmann and Prof. Dr. Holger Lerche from the University Hospital Tübingen she received the Eva Luise Köhler Research Award 2018.
Dr. Ulrike Hedrich-Klimosch und Team

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