October 29, 2018

CURE Discovery: Improving Sleep with Small Environmental Changes May Decrease Seizures

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Dr. Franck Kalume

Relatively small changes in environmental factors which improve the ‘internal clock’ (otherwise known as the circadian rhythm) and the quality of sleep lead to decreases in seizures in mice with similarities to Dravet syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy. These promising results are the latest findings from the lab of CURE grantee Dr. Franck Kalume of Seattle Children’s Hospital, whose grant is generously supported through the BAND Foundation.

Individuals with Dravet syndrome have problems with their circadian rhythm and with regulating their sleep.1 Upon observing that mice with similarities to Dravet syndrome have similar sleep disturbances,2 Dr. Kalume and his team set out to determine if improving circadian rhythm and sleep patterns in these mice could reduce the occurrence of seizures.

To improve circadian rhythm in the mice, the team confined either meals or exercise to nighttime, when mice are typically active. The team limited these activities during the day, when mice typically sleep. As a result of these simple changes, the team found that the mice became more active at night and less active during the day, an indication of improved circadian rhythm. The mice also showed improvements in the quality of their sleep.

Significantly, restricting these activities to nighttime led to a decrease in the incidence of irregular brain activity that is characteristic of an epileptic brain, an indication that improvements in sleep practices may improve epilepsy.

Dr. Kalume and his team next plan to confine both exercise and meals to nighttime to see if this leads to an even greater reduction of seizures. They also plan to determine the effect of these changes on the risk of sudden death in these mice, as these mice and humans with Dravet syndrome are more susceptible to Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP).

These important results contribute to our understanding of the relationship between sleep and epilepsy and provide hope for the development of new therapies to improve epilepsy outcomes. Dr. Kalume and his team hope these studies will lead to practical steps not involving medication that individuals with epilepsy can take to improve their circadian rhythm and sleep to reduce seizures and the risk of SUDEP.

1 Licheni SH et al. Sleep problems in Dravet syndrome: a modifiable comorbidity. Dev Med Child Neurol 2018; 60(2):192-198.
2 Kalume F et al. Sleep impairment and reduced interneuron excitability in a mouse model of Dravet Syndrome. Neurobiol Dis. 2015; 77: 141-54.

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