EEC 2022 | Investigating the gut microbiome in epilepsy

Iscia Lopes-Cendes, MD, PhD, University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil, spotlights the gut microbiome in epilepsy as an exciting area of research. The role of diet and the gut microbiome has been investigated across numerous neurology disciplines in recent years, most heavily in conditions with an autoimmune or inflammatory component. The impact of the microbiome is less well established in epilepsy, but emerging data is beginning to provide hints on its impact on seizure control, anti-seizure medication response, and potentially disease onset. A major line of evidence for the importance of the gut microbiome comes from the efficacy of the ketogenic diet in children with refractory epilepsy, which may act through changes in the microbiome. This interview took place at the 14th European Epilepsy Congress (EEC) 2022 in Geneva, Switzerland.