Brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression is higher in brain tissue from patients with refractory epilepsy than in normal controls

The role of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor in epilepsy remains controversial. The present study utilized light and electron microscopy to investigate pathological and ultrastructural changes in brain tissue obtained from the seizure foci of 24 patients with temporal epilepsy. We found that epileptic tissue showed neuronal degeneration, glial cell proliferation, nuclear vacuolization, and neural cell tropism. Immunoelectron microscopy and immunohistochemistry showed that brain-derived neurotrophic factor was expressed at significantly higher levels in patients with refractory temporal epilepsy compared with normal controls, demonstrating that the pathological changes within seizure foci in patients with refractory epilepsy are associated with brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression alterations.