Researchers at City University of Hong Kong have established a new drug candidate with possible therapeutic effects for temporal lobe epilepsy.
It is widely known that about one-third of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy tend to be unresponsive to current treatments. The new drug candidate suppresses neuroinflammation, thus providing new hope.
Published in PNAS, researchers turned to a small organic molecule known as D4, which works by inhibiting connexin hemichannels. D4 was the subject of rigorous investigation as to its effect in treating temporal lobe epilepsy among rodents.
D4 is purported to strongly suppress neuroinflammation induced by temporal lobe epilepsy. “The new drug, D4, targets a new class of ion channels, the connexin hemichannels in the glial cells,” according to a news release of the findings.
“We have found a very promising new drug candidate for treating epilepsy that works through a new mechanism—blocking connexin hemichannels,” the news release also states. “Our findings also highlight the important involvement of neuroinflammation in neurological disorders such as epilepsy.”
