Neuron-specific mechanisms for epilepsy self-termination

Epilepsy is characterized as the ictal discharges of the cerebral brain in the sudden onset and self-termination for a few minutes. The seizure onset is presumably originated from the synchronous activity of excitatory neurons and the weakness of inhibitory synapses, which guide the suppression of the seizure onset by giving the exogenous reagents to enhance inhibitory synaptic transmission and to block action potentials. After long-term treatment, many epileptic patients become insensitive to such medications and the pathogenesis in the elevated ratio of cortical excitation to inhibition is still present. The lack of long-term therapeutic effectiveness may be reasoned from the facts that the current medication is not neuron-specific and the seizure self-termination has not been taken into account. Therefore, the new therapeutic strategies against epilepsy remains to be explored based on strengthening the endogenous mechanisms of seizure self-termination in a neuron-specific manner. We review the potential mechanisms of seizure self-termination and present our thoughts in anti-epilepsy by strengthening seizure self-termination in different neuronal compartments.