Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Oligoclonal bands found in spinal fluid of some dogs with epilepsy
By Föhr, Junwei et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2025·Vetsuisse Faculty·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Cerebrospinal fluid-specific oligoclonal bands in dogs with idiopathic epilepsy.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 84 dogs with idiopathic epilepsy (IE), which causes seizures, was studied to see if some dogs were resistant to standard anti-seizure medications. About 15.5% of these dogs had specific markers in their cerebrospinal fluid that might indicate an immune response contributing to their seizures. Among the dogs that didn't respond to medication, 21.4% had these markers compared to 12.5% of those that did respond. This suggests that neuroinflammation could be a factor in why some dogs with epilepsy don't improve with treatment.
People also search for: dog seizures treatment · idiopathic epilepsy in dogs · why is my dog having seizures · anti-seizure medication for dogs · dog epilepsy immune response
Abstract
BACKGROUND: In dogs with idiopathic epilepsy (IE), 33% develop resistance to conventional anti-seizure medication (ASM) despite adequate treatment. In human medicine, an immune-mediated etiology is suspected in a subset of ASM-resistant patients with epilepsy and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG)-type oligoclonal bands (OCBs) have been detected. In dogs, cases of autoimmune encephalitis recently were reported. Neuroinflammation may provide an additional explanation for the lack of response of certain dogs with IE to ASM. HYPOTHESIS: Cerebrospinal fluid-specific OCBs are found in a subgroup of dogs with ASM-resistant IE. ANIMALS: Eighty-four dogs with IE were recruited from 3 referral centers and classified based on their response to ASM treatment (responsive, n = 56; resistant, n = 28). METHODS: Detection of OCBs was performed using isoelectric focusing (IEF) followed by immunoblotting. Associations of CSF-specific OCBs with seizure type, severity, and response to ASM were calculated using logistic regression models. RESULTS: The overall frequency of CSF-specific OCBs in dogs with IE was 15.5% (95% confidence interval [CI], 8.5%-25%). In dogs with ASM-resistant IE, 21.4% (6/28) had CSF-specific OCBs compared with only 12.5% (7/56) in those responsive to ASM, but no evidence of an association was detected (odds ratio, 1.9; 95% CI, 0.57-6.35; P = .29). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Cerebrospinal fluid-specific OCBs were detected in a subgroup of dogs with IE. This finding could indicate that intrathecal IgG synthesis as a sign of neuroinflammation may play a role in disease pathogenesis.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39715535/