Genome-wide association meta-analyses of drug-resistant epilepsy

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders, affecting over 50 million people worldwide. One-third of people with epilepsy do not respond to currently available anti-seizure medications, constituting one of the most important problems in epilepsy. Little is known about the molecular pathology of drug resistance in epilepsy, in particular, possible underlying genetic factors are largely unknown.

We performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) in two epilepsy cohorts of European ancestry, comparing drug-resistant (N = 4208) to drug-responsive individuals (N = 2618) followed by meta-analyses across the studies. Next, we performed subanalyses split into two broad subtypes: acquired or non-acquired focal and genetic generalized epilepsy.

Our drug-resistant versus drug-responsive epilepsy GWAS meta-analysis showed no significant loci when combining all epilepsy types. Sub-analyses on individuals with focal epilepsy (FE) identified a significant locus on chromosome 1q42.11-q42.12 (lead SNP: rs35915186, P = 1·51 × 10^-8, OR[C] = 0·74). This locus was not associated with any epilepsy subtype in the latest epilepsy GWAS (lowest uncorrected P = 0·009 for FE vs. healthy controls), and drug resistance in FE was not genetically correlated with susceptibility to FE itself. Seven genome-wide significant SNPs within this locus, encompassing the genes CNIH4, WDR26, and CNIH3, were identified to protect against drug-resistant FE. Further transcriptome-wide association studies (TWAS) imply significantly higher expression levels of CNIH3 and WDR26 in drug-resistant FE than in drug-responsive FE. CNIH3 is implicated in AMPA receptor assembly and function, while WDR26 haploinsufficiency is linked to intellectual disability and seizures. These findings suggest that CNIH3 and WDR26 may play a role in mediating drug response in focal epilepsy.

We identified a contribution of common genetic variation to drug-resistant focal epilepsy. These findings provide insights into possible mechanisms underlying drug response variability in epilepsy, offering potential targets for personalised treatment approaches.

This work is part of the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 279062 (EpiPGX) and the Centers for Common Disease Genomics (CCDG) program, funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).