Contribution of the μ-opioid Receptor System to Affective Disorders in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy: A Bidirectional Relationship?
Abstract number :
1.268
Submission category :
6. Cormorbidity (Somatic and Psychiatric)
Year :
2022
Submission ID :
2203920
Source :
www.aesnet.org
Presentation date :
12/3/2022 12:00:00 PM
Published date :
Nov 22, 2022, 05:22 AM
Authors :
Daichi Sone, MD, PhD – Jikei University School of Medicine; Marian Galovic, MD – University Hospital Zurich; Jim Myers, PhD – Imperial College London; Georg Leonhardt, MD – Carl Gustav Carus University Hospitals; Eugenii Rabiner, MD – 6) Invicro; John Duncan, DM, FRCP – University College London; Matthias Koepp, MD, PhD, FRCP – University College London; Jacqueline Foong, MD, FRCPsych – University College London
This abstract is a recipient of the Suzanne and Peter Berry International Travel Award
Rationale: Affective disorders are frequent comorbidities of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). The endogenous opioid system has been implicated in both epilepsy and affective disorders, and may play a significant role in their bidirectional relationship. We investigated the association between μ-opioid receptor binding and affective disorders in patients with TLE.
Methods: Nine patients with TLE underwent 11C-carfentanil positron emission tomography (CFN-PET) and neuropsychiatric assessment, including the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). The normalized CFN-PET scans were compared with those of 26 age-matched healthy controls. Correlation analyses with affective symptoms were performed by region-of-interest (ROI)-based analysis focusing on the limbic circuit and orbitofrontal cortex.
Results: We observed widely reduced CFN binding potential (BP) in bilateral frontal lobes and striata in patients with TLE compared to healthy controls. In the TLE group, more severe anxiety and negative affect was associated with decreased CFN-BP in the posterior cingulate gyrus.
Conclusions: In patients with TLE, interictally reduced binding in the opioid system was associated with higher levels of anxiety and negative affect. We speculate that seizure-related agonist-driven desensitization and downregulation of opioid receptors could be a potentially underlying pathomechanism. Targeting the μ-opioid system may provide novel treatments for affective disorders in TLE.
Funding: This research was funded by Epilepsy Research UK and the IMPETUS pilot scheme by Imanova (Ltd), London, UK. DS was funded by Uehara Memorial Foundation postdoctoral fellowship and Japan Society for the Promotion of Science overseas research fellowship.
Cormorbidity (Somatic and Psychiatric)