Immediate suppression of seizure clusters by corticosteroids in PCDH19 female epilepsy

The pathomechanism and treatment of PCDH19 female epilepsy (PCDH19-FE) remain unclear. Here, we report that corticosteroids are effective for control of the seizure clusters or other acute symptoms of PCDH19-FE and argue for the possible involvement of a compromised blood-brain barrier (BBB) in its pathogenesis.

The efficacy of corticosteroids was retrospectively reviewed in five Japanese patients with PCDH19-FE. The results of antibody assays against the N-methyl-d-aspartate-type glutamate receptor (abs-NR) in serum/cerebrospinal fluid were also compiled.

Corticosteroid treatments significantly improved the acute symptoms, including seizure clusters, in all cases, most often immediately after the initial administration. However, the effect was transient, and some seizures recurred within a few weeks, especially in association with fever. Serum and/or cerebrospinal fluid abs-NR were detected in all patients. Target sequences of the detected antibodies were multiple, and the titers tended to decrease over time. In one patient, immunohistochemical analysis using rat hippocampal slices also revealed serum antibodies targeting an unknown epitope in neuronal cytoplasm.

Our findings imply an involvement of inflammatory processes in the pathogenesis of PCDH19-FE and therapeutic utility for corticosteroids as an adjunctive option in acute treatment. PCDH19 is well expressed in brain microvascular endothelial cells and thus its impairment may cause BBB vulnerability, which may be ameliorated by corticosteroids. The abs-NR detected in our patients may not indicate an autoimmune pathomechanism, but may rather represent non-specific sensitization to degraded neuronal components entering the general circulation, the latter process facilitated by the BBB vulnerability.