[Research on genes susceptible to childhood absence epilepsy]

Despite a few genes that do not encode ion channels have been identified as implicating some kinds of human idiopathic epilepsies(IE) in recent years, but genetic discoveries have shown the ion channels to play a central role in genetic pathomechanism of IE. The gene mutations of ion channels are a common cause of some rare monogenic IE which could be so-called as channelopathies, and able to be applied to account for the questioned epileptic syndrome to minority of families and sporadic cases. However, more frustrating has been from the genetic research on more common IE with complex inheritance due to the unknown mode of inheritance, the phenotypic heterogeneity and the uncertainty of genetic overlap among syndrome subtypes, which have limited gene mapping. Absence epilepsy is a kind of common IE subtype and shows a complex way to inherit. Evidences from heredity investigation indicate that eleven genes are correlated with absence epilepsy, of which four encode the neuronal calcium channel subunits. Therefore, calcium channel genes may be considered as important candidates for involving in absence epilepsy. To focus the genetics research on calcium channel genes of absence epilepsy may be opening an optimal gate to the pathogenetic study of more common IE with complex inheritance, and benefit to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of absence epilepsy finally, one of the more common IE subtypes with complex inheritance.