Researchers from the Faculty of Medical Sciences (FCM) at Unicamp – members of the Brazilian Institute of Neuroscience and Neurotechnology (Cepid Brainn) at Fapesp – have just published a article in the international journal PLOS One. This is the first report in the literature on the possible practical application of pharmacogenetic data in the treatment of patients with severe epilepsy.
“With patients’ genetic data – explains neurologist Iscia Lopes-Cendes – it is possible to significantly increase the ability to predict which patients will not respond well to treatment with medication.”
With the increased prediction capacity, explains Iscia, it is possible to select, earlier, those patients who can benefit from surgical treatment. “This could save years of unsuccessful attempts at treatment with medication, and lead to treatment that can control attacks more efficiently,” she explained.
The article entitled “A Prediction Algorithm for Drug Response in Patients with Mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy Based on Clinical and Genetic Information” was published last Wednesday (4), and has the following authors: Mariana S. Silva-Alves, Rodrigo Secolin, Benilton S. Carvalho, Clarissa L. Yasuda, Elizabeth Bilevicius, Marina KM Alvim, Renato O. Santos, Claudia V. Maurer-Morelli, Fernando Cendes and Iscia Lopes-Cendes.
