Scorza Fulvio A, Terra Vera C, Scorza Carla A, Arida Ricardo M, Cavalheiro Esper A
Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brasil.
Arq Neuropsiquiatr. 2009 Dec;67(4):1114-6. doi: 10.1590/s0004-282x2009000600032.
On February 12, 2009, we commemorated the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of the first edition of the 'On the origin of species'. Only in the sixth edition of the Origin Darwin explicitly stated that natural selection applied to the brain as to all other organs and contemporary epilepsy research plays an interesting role in this scenario. Epilepsy affects approximately 3 percent of the general population and is a complex disease. At least 11 genes have now been described for human epilepsy and over 50 more genes have been identified in animal models of epilepsy. The complex gene to gene interactions and gene-environment interactions may account for epilepsy susceptibility and antiepileptic drug response. Darwin's thoughts on evolution are relevant to understand these gene interactions, contributing to current development of new treatments and prevention of chronic diseases, such as epilepsy.
2009年2月12日，我们纪念了查尔斯·达尔文诞辰200周年以及《物种起源》第一版出版150周年。直到《物种起源》第六版，达尔文才明确指出自然选择适用于大脑，就如同适用于所有其他器官一样，而当代癫痫研究在这种情况下发挥着有趣的作用。癫痫影响着约3%的普通人群，是一种复杂的疾病。目前已描述了至少11种人类癫痫相关基因，在癫痫动物模型中还鉴定出了50多种基因。复杂的基因与基因相互作用以及基因与环境相互作用可能是癫痫易感性和抗癫痫药物反应的原因。达尔文的进化思想对于理解这些基因相互作用具有重要意义，有助于当前新型治疗方法的开发以及癫痫等慢性疾病的预防。
