Pain & Central Nervous System Week via NewsEdge :

2008 MAY 12 - (NewsRx.com) -- In this recent article published in the journal Clinical Neuropathology, scientists in Chongqing, People's Republic of China conducted a study "To investigate the expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) in the brain tissue of patients with intractable epilepsy (IE) and to explore its role in the pathogenesis of IE (see also Epilepsy). Material: Patients with IE were collected from the Department of Neurosurgery of several Chinese hospitals between 2002 and 2005."

"The average age of these 40 patients was 23.65 +/- 10.14 (X +/- SD) years (11 - 58 years), with 19 males and 21 females. In addition to the typical symptoms and distinct EEG features of epilepsy, all recruited patients met the requirements of intractable epilepsy. Oil the basis of positive results obtained from gene chip analysis, the expression of MCP-1 was first investigated in the brain tissue of IE patients (40 cases) using Western Blotting and immunohistochemistry and then compared with the controls. Gene chip scanning demonstrated that expression of MCP-1 mRNA was upregulated in the brain tissue of patients with IE. Western Blotting and immunohistochemical experiments further confirmed that, as compared with that in the control group, expression of MCP-1 protein was significantly increased in the I E patients (p < 0.05)," wrote Y. Wu and colleagues.

The researchers concluded: "These results suggest that MCP-1 are involved in the pathogenesis of IE."

Wu and colleagues published their study in Clinical Neuropathology (Expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 in brain tissue of patients with intractable epilepsy. Clinical Neuropathology, 2008;27(2):55-63).

Additional information can be obtained by contacting X. Wang, Chongqing Med University, Affiliated Hospital 1, Dept. of Neurology, Chongqing 400016, People's Republic of China.

The publisher of the journal Clinical Neuropathology can be contacted at: Dustri-Verlag Dr. Karl Feistle, Bahnhofstrasse 9 Postfach 49, D-82032 Deisenhofen-Muenchen, Germany.

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