Abstract
The search of targets for developing novel drugs that can control seizures resistant
to available treatments in children and adults represents a great challenge for basic
science. In the past decade, emerging evidence pointed out to the crucial role played
by glia, the innate immunity brain-resident cells, in the generation of hyperexcitable
neuronal networks underlying seizures. Molecular and pharmacological studies targeting
glia, and the inflammatory mediators released by these cells in experimental models
of epilepsy, highlighted novel targets for drug intervention aimed at interfering
with the disease mechanisms, therefore providing putative disease-modifying treatments.
This article will focus on the role of immunity activation in the brain and the concomitant
release by glia of inflammatory molecules with neuromodulatory properties, in the
pathogenesis of epileptic seizures, cell loss, and comorbidities.
Keywords
inflammation - glia - epilepsy
