A new study has shown that dietary supplementation with a serotonin precursor reduces seizure-induced respiratory arrest (S-IRA) and death in mouse models. Development of strategies to prevent S-IRA is paramount, because S-IRA is thought to be associated with a high risk of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP).
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$209.00 per year
only $17.42 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Change history
12 September 2016
In the version of this article initially published, some of the funding sources were omitted from the Acknowledgements. This error has been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the article.
References
Thurman, D. J., Hesdorffer, D. C. & French, J. A. Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy: assessing the public health burden. Epilepsia 55, 1479–1485 (2014).
Massey, C. A., Sowers, L. P., Dlouhy, B. J. & Richerson, G. B. Mechanisms of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy: the pathway to prevention. Nat. Rev. Neurol. 10, 271–282 (2014).
Zhang, H. et al., 5-Hydroxytryptophan, a precursor for serotonin synthesis, reduces seizure-induced respiratory arrest. Epilepsia http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/epi.13430 (2016).
Feng, H. J. & Faingold, C. L. Abnormalities of serotonergic neurotransmission in animal models of SUDEP. Epilepsy Behav. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.yebeh.2015.06.008 (2015).
Buchanan, G. F., Murray, N. M., Hajek, M. A. & RichersonG. B.Serotonin neurones have anti-convulsant effects and reduce seizure-induced mortality. J. Physiol. 592, 4395–4410 (2014).
Bateman, L. M., Li, C. S., Lin, T. C., & Seyal, M. Serotonin reuptake inhibitors are associated with reduced severity of ictal hypoxemia in medically refractory partial epilepsy. Epilepsia 51, 2211–2214 (2010).
Ryvlin, P. et al. Incidence and mechanisms of cardiorespiratory arrests in epilepsy monitoring units (MORTEMUS): a retrospective study. Lancet Neurol. 12, 966–977 (2013).
Bagdy, G., Kecskemeti, V., Riba, P., & Jakus, R. Serotonin and epilepsy. J. Neurochem. 100, 857–873 (2007).
Turner, E. H., Loftis, J. M., & Blackwell, A. D. Serotonin a la carte: supplementation with the serotonin precursor 5-hydroxytryptophan. Pharmacol. Ther. 109, 325–338 (2006).
Haberzettl, R., Fink, H., & Bert, B. The murine serotonin syndrome — evaluation of responses to 5-HT-enhancing drugs in NMRI mice. Behav. Brain Res. 277, 204–210 (2015).
Acknowledgements
G.F.B. receives support from NINDS/NIH, Epilepsy Foundation, The Beth & Nate Tross Epilepsy Research Fund, and the American Epilepsy Society. G.B.R. receives funding from the NINDS/NIH Center for SUDEP Research (CSR; Center Without Walls).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
PowerPoint slides
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Buchanan, G., Richerson, G. A dietary supplement for SUDEP prevention?. Nat Rev Neurol 12, 495–496 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2016.114
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2016.114
This article is cited by
-
Erratum: Correction: A dietary supplement for SUDEP prevention?
Nature Reviews Neurology (2016)