Serotonin Levels in the Serum of Persons with Onchocerciasis-Associated Epilepsy: A Case-Control Study

Overview

Journal Pathogens

Date 2021 Jul 2

PMID 34201076

Citations 3

Authors

Melissa Krizia Vieri

An Hotterbeekx

Michel Mandro

Joseph Nelson Siewe Fodjo

Alfred Dusabimana

Francoise Nyisi

Deby Mukendi

Joe Gwatsvaira

Samir Kumar-Singh

Robert Colebunders

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Onchocerciasis-associated epilepsy (OAE) is a devastating childhood disorder occurring in areas with high transmission. Despite epidemiological evidence showing the association between and epilepsy, the underlying mechanism remains unknown. Since high levels of serotonin are known to induce seizures, we investigated serotonin levels in persons with OAE and controls selected from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Serum serotonin levels were determined by ELISA in 19 persons with OAE, 32 persons with epilepsy without infection, 18 with infection but without epilepsy, and 35 with neither infection nor epilepsy. infection was diagnosed by skin snip testing and/or OV16 antibody detection. Serum serotonin levels were significantly decreased in persons with OAE compared to persons with infection and no epilepsy. In conclusion, an increased serotonin level is unable to explain the pathogenesis of OAE. Other hypotheses to identify the causal mechanism of OAE will need to be investigated.

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