"Whether these antibodies might also have a role in milder syndromes, or perhaps in cryptogenic epilepsy, warrants further study," Dr. Lawrence J. Hirsch wrote in an editorial accompanying the report (Lancet Neurol. 2014 Jan. 22 [doi:10.1016/S1474-4422(14)70013-4]).
This preliminary study could not determine which, if any, antiepileptic drugs might be effective, nor which immunotherapies might be helpful. Future research should address those issues as well, said Dr. Hirsch of the department of neurology at Yale University, New Haven, Conn. He had no disclosures.
This study was supported by the Instituto Carlos III, the National Institutes of Health, a McKnight Neuroscience of Brain Disorders award, the Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias, the Fundació la Marató de TV3, the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, and the Dutch Epilepsy Foundation. Two authors reported holding patents or filing patents for various antibody diagnostic tests, including GABAAR, and GABABR, and also reported receiving research grant support from Euroimmun. Another author received a travel grant for lecturing in India from Sun Pharma, India. The other authors reported having no disclosures.