The gut microbiome in epilepsy

The close relationship between epilepsy and autoimmune diseases and the fact that the cause of epilepsy is idiopathic in 60% of cases suggest that intestinal microbiota may play a role in the etiology of epilepsy. In this study, we analyzed and compared the intestinal microbiota composition of patients with idiopathic focal epilepsy (n = 30) and healthy volunteer group (n = 10) by 16s ribosomal DNA sequencing. Proteobacteria phylum was found to be higher in patients with epilepsy (25.4%) than in healthy volunteers group (1.5%). The genera of Campylobacter, Delftia, Haemophilus, Lautropia, Neisseria among Proteobacteria phylum were found to be statistically significantly higher in patients with epilepsy than in healthy volunteers (p < 0.05). Fusobacteria phylum was detected in 10.6% of the patients with epilepsy but not in the healthy volunteer group. The genus of the Fusobacteria phylum was found as Leptotrichia and Fusobacterium. In our study, taxonomic drift and significant differences in the intestinal microbiota of patients with epilepsy according to healthy volunteer group showed that autoimmune mechanisms and inflammation may have a role in the etiology of epilepsy. Our data should be supported by other studies as to the role of the intestinal microbiome in the prevention and treatment of epilepsy.