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About 30 % of epileptic patients are non-responsive to multidrug antiepileptic therapy. One of non-responsiveness in epilepsy hypothesis claims that non-responsiveness occurs because of reduced access of antiepileptic drugs to their targets, as a result of increased efflux of antiepileptic drugs away from these targets. Transporters believed to be involved in non-responsiveness in epilepsy are mainly but not exclusively the members of the ABC superfamily including P-gp (MDR1, ABCB1), MRP1 (ABCC1), MRP2 (ABCC2) and others. These proteins are normally found in the blood-brain barrier and the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier where they function as protectors. There is emerging evidence that P-gp, MRP1 and MRP2 are up-regulated in epileptogenic brain tissue. The risk of non-responsiveness could be related also to the MDR1 or MRP2 gene polymorphisms. We hypothesised that changes in expression and function of multidrug transporters involved in non-responsiveness of epilepsy might be detectable not only in the brain but also in other tissues such as lymphocytes. Therefore we evaluated the expression of MDR1, MRP1 and MRP2 and function of P-gp in lymphocytes in patients with epilepsy and healthy subjects. Three groups of epileptic patients and 15 healthy subjects as a control group were included in the study. The patients’ group was defined as follows: Monotherapy – patients treated with carbamazepine monotherapy, without seizures - corresponded to group responders. Combined therapy – patients after monotherapy (two different medicines have been tried) and combined therapy (two trials of combined therapy), not free of seizures. Monotherapy and combined therapy groups each embraced 15 patients. Neurosurgery – patients who had undergone neurosurgery, afterwards were or were not additionally treated with carbamazepine, with or without seizures. This group comprised 24 patients. Combined therapy and neurosurgery groups composed the group of non-responders. The mRNA expression of MRP1, MRP2 and MDR1 by means of quantitative real-time PCR as well as MRP2 and P-gp protein content by Western blot in lymphocytes was measured. For P-gp functional analysis rhodamine efflux from lymphocytes and natural killer (NK) cells was performed. The influence of the polymorphisms C3435T, G2677T/A in the MDR1 gene and C24T, G1249A, C3972T in the MRP2 gene for the transporters expression, function and their association with non-responsive epilepsy phenotype was investigated. Our results showed that MRP1 expression in lymphocytes was significantly lower in epileptics than in healthy subjects. Non-responders had lower MRP1 mRNA content in lymphocytes than responders. We did not find any difference in MRP2 expression between epileptics and healthy volunteers. MRP2 mRNA levels in lymphocytes were higher in non-responders than in responders. However, at protein level epileptic patients had significantly lower MRP2 content in lymphocytes than controls. MRP2 protein content did not differ in responders and non-responders. There was no reliable correlation between MRP2 mRNA expression and MRP2 protein content in lymphocytes. Epileptics had significantly lower MDR1 expression in lymphocytes than healthy individuals. MDR1 expression was decreasing according to the consumption of antiepileptic drugs and seizures frequency: patients after neurosurgery had significantly lower MDR1 expression than patients after combined therapy and monotherapy. MDR1 expression was significantly lower in non-responders than in responders. At protein level epileptics had lower P-gp content than controls. Detected P-gp amount in lymphocytes did not differ between responders and non-responders. Rhodamine efflux from lymphocytes and NK cells did not differ significantly between epileptics and healthy subjects, but it was higher in patients after neurosurgery than in patients after monotherapy. Rhodamine efflux from NK cells, which are known to express the highest levels of P-gp, was significantly higher in non-responders than in responders. In this study, we showed that MRP1 mRNA expression in lymphocytes was significantly correlated to its expression in the brain. We detected also a significant co-correlation between MRP1 expression in the hippocampus and MDR1 expression in lymphocytes. We found no evidence regarding the impact of the MDR1 polymorphisms on mRNA expression, P-gp content and rhodamine efflux from lymphocytes. Our data showed lack of evidence regarding the impact of the MRP2 polymorphisms on mRNA expression and protein content. We did not detect any association between MDR1 or MRP2 polymorphisms and non-responsiveness in epilepsy or epilepsy in the main. In conclusion, our results suggest that lymphocytes are an appropriate surrogate for studies on changes of multidrug transporters expression in epilepsy. Lymphocytes as an easily accessible tissue might serve as a marker for responsiveness to antiepileptic drug therapy in epilepsy studies.
Große epidemiologische Studien haben gezeigt, dass Patienten mit einem Diabetes mellitus oder einem metabolischen Syndrom ein erhöhtes Risiko für die Entstehung eines Hepatozellulären Karzinoms (HCC) besitzen. In einem in der Arbeitsgruppe von F. Dombrowski entwickelten Tiermodell konnte gezeigt werden, dass eine dauerhaft erhöhte Insulin- und Glukosekonzentration nach niedrig-dosierter portal-embolischer Pankreasinseltransplantation in diabetischen Ratten einen karzinogenen Effekt auf die Hepatozyten ausübt. Da der Signalweg über die Proteinkinase AKT und seine Effektormoleküle wie mTOR (mammalian target of Rapamycin) einerseits in der humanen Hepatokarzinogenese aktiviert ist, andererseits aber auch einen typischen intrazellulären Mediatorweg des Insulinsignals darstellt, war das Ziel dieser Arbeit, die funktionelle Bedeutung einer AKT/mTOR-Aktivierung in diesem Tiermodell mittels Western Blot und Immunhistochemie zu charakterisieren. AKT und seine Effektormoleküle (mTOR, NFkB, Bcl-2) sind dabei bereits in den frühesten Präneoplasien verstärkt exprimiert, durch AKT in ihrer Funktion negativ-regulierte Effektormoleküle (FOXO1, 4EBP1 und BAD) werden hingegen inhibiert. Diese Effekte nehmen im Verlauf der Karzinogenese vom Stadium der Präneoplasien zu den HCC deutlich zu. Daher lässt sich schlussfolgern, dass in der Insulin-induzierten Hepatokarzinogenese nach Pankreasinseltransplantation in diabetischen Ratten der AKT/mTOR-Signalweg als intrazellulärer Mediator des Insulinsignals von Beginn an aktiviert ist und an der Entstehung der Präneoplasien und der nachfolgenden Transformation in hepatozelluläre Tumoren eine wesentliche Bedeutung haben dürfte. Die AKT/mTOR Aktivierung ist ferner für die Induktion des lipogenen Phänotyps und die Heraufregulation der lipogenen Enzyme FASN, ACAC, ACLY, ähnlich wie beim HCC des Menschen und im Mausmodell, verantwortlich. Zum einen bietet dieses Modell somit auf molekularer Ebene Erklärungsansätze für die epidemiologisch gesicherte aber bisher pathogenetisch nicht verstandene Entstehung des HCC beim Menschen mit hyperinsulinämischen Diabetes mellitus. Zum anderen bleibt darüber hinaus abzuwarten, inwieweit sich durch Hemmung dieses onkogenen Signalwegs Ansätze für die Therapie des HCC bei Patienten mit dereguliertem Insulinstoffwechsel ergeben könnten.