Epilepsy and Autoimmunity: Basic Physiopathological Mechanisms

Abstract

Autoimmunity and inflammation have been linked with different neurological syndromes apart from epilepsy, but they are also increasingly observed in cases where epilepsy occurs alone as the dominant clinical feature. There is some evidence that inflammation and autoimmunity contribute to the etiology of epilepsy. On the other hand the basic physiopathological mechanisms are still unclear. Reviewing these basic mechanisms is important to understand the role of inflammation and autoimmunity on epilepsy to contribute to clinical diagnosis and future treatment options of epilepsy. The aim of this article is to elucidate these mechanisms on epileptogenesis.