TUESDAY, April 24 (HealthDay News) -- Genes located on chromosomes 3 and 18 are associated with childhood febrile seizures and epilepsy, according to the results of a study of a large French family published in the April 24 issue of Neurology.
Rima Nabbout, M.D., Ph.D., from Hopital Necker-Enfants Malades in Paris, France, and colleagues investigated the clinical and genetic characteristics of a 51-member family (four generations), of whom 13 members were affected by febrile seizures. Five of the 13 affected individuals also had childhood absence epilepsies and one had temporal lobe epilepsy.
The researchers found that the seizures stopped before 6 years of age in all but one affected family member. After excluding previously identified loci associated with febrile seizures and epilepsy, a genome-wide search identified a locus associated with febrile seizures on chromosome 3p and another on chromosome 18p in patients who developed epilepsy.
"These findings emphasize the genetic heterogeneity of febrile seizures," Nabbout and colleagues conclude. "Furthermore, epilepsy in association with febrile seizures might result in this family from an interaction between at least two genes: the gene on 3p and a possible modifier gene on 18p."
Abstract
Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)
