Verbal memory and hippocampal levels of MCT4 and IGF-1R in patients with left-side temporal lobe epilepsy and type 2 hippocampal sclerosis

• Grant number: 21/08076-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: January 01, 2022
• End date: December 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Pathological Anatomy and Clinical Pathology
• Principal Investigator: José Eduardo Peixoto Santos
• Grantee: Henrique Cruz Fermiano
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Deficits in verbal memory and learning are usually seen in most patients with epilepsy of the left mesial temporal lobe. According to recent studies, these deficits are associated with the neuronal loss pattern: while patients who present with neuronal loss on the granular layer (hippocampal sclerosis type 1 and 3) demonstrate memory and learning deficits, those with preserved granular layer (type 2 sclerosis) often have memory in the normal range. However, some patients with left temporal lobe epilepsy and hippocampal sclerosis type 2 have memory loss. Since some studies demonstrated the importance of the lactate levels on memory capacity, which is controlled by monocarboxylate transporter 4 (MCT4), and the insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF-1R), our hypothesis is that patients with preserved granular cell layer and verbal memory deficits present lower levels of these proteins in this region. To test our hypothesis, this project intends to analyze the expression of MCT4 and IGF-1R in the granular cell layer of patients with left temporal lobe epilepsy and hippocampal sclerosis type 2. We intend to evaluate the correlation between these proteins, detected by immunohistochemistry, and the verbal memory and learning scores, measured Logic Memory of the Wechsler Memory Scale - Revised (WMS-R) and by Rey's Verbal Auditory Learning Test.