Epilepsy: Pioglitazone pilot study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Modulation of a gene cluster in patients with epilepsy
IRAS ID
210679
Contact name
M Johnson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Joint research office
Eudract number
n/a
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Approximately 1 in 3 patients with epilepsy continue to have uncontrolled seizures despite appropriate treatment and so better treatments are needed. We have identified a cluster of genes (Cluster 24) which behaves very differently in brain tissue from mice with epilepsy compared to brain tissue from mice without epilepsy. We have also found that a class of drugs called PPAR-gamma agonists is able to return the behavior of Cluster 24 back towards normality. What is more, when this happens, the epilepsy in mice improves.
We therefore think that returning Cluster 24 towards normality may be able to treat epilepsy in humans. But before we test this in a clinical trial in humans, we need first to be able to prove that we are able to return Cluster 24 towards normality in humans.
Therefore, in this clinical study, we will treat people who have epilepsy with a PPAR-gamma agonist and measure the behaviour of one of the genes in Cluster 24 called TSPO. We have chosen to measure this because it is the only one for which a scan is available which enables us to measure it.
We will recruit patients with epilepsy from our clinic at Charing Cross Hospital and invite them to the Imanova Centre for Imaging Sciences at Hammersmith Hospital. We will treat them with a PPAR-gamma agonist for 28 days. We will scan them with a specific type of scanner (a PET scanner) before and after the treatment to see if the level of TSPO (and therefore Cluster 24) has changed.
REC name
London - West London & GTAC Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/LO/1892
Date of REC Opinion
23 Dec 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion