Sodium Channel Mutations and Epilepsy

Abstract While many pathophysiological changes contribute to seizure susceptibility, recent work suggests that genetic factors are especially important. Polygenic inheritance patterns have been associated with febrile seizures and idiopathic epilepsy and may be important in determining susceptibility to acquired epilepsy following brain injury. Monogenic inheritance patterns are seen in a number of epilepsies associated with mutations in ligand-gated or voltage-gated ion channels. The genes most frequently associated with epilepsy encode brain sodium channels.