Serotonin Levels in the Serum of Persons with Onchocerciasis-Associated Epilepsy: A Case-Control Study
Melissa Krizia Vieri,
An Hotterbeekx,
Michel Mandro,
Joseph Nelson Siewe Fodjo,
Alfred Dusabimana,
Francoise Nyisi,
Deby Mukendi,
Joe Gwatsvaira,
Samir Kumar-Singh,
Robert Colebunders
Affiliations
Melissa Krizia Vieri
Global Health Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium
An Hotterbeekx
Global Health Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium
Michel Mandro
Provincial Health Division Ituri, Ministry of Health, P.O. Box 57 Bunia, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Joseph Nelson Siewe Fodjo
Brain Research Africa Initiative (BRAIN), Yaoundé P.O. Box 25625, Cameroon
Alfred Dusabimana
Global Health Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium
Francoise Nyisi
Centre de Recherche en Maladies Tropicales, Rethy, P.O. Box 143 Bunia, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Deby Mukendi
Centre Neuro-Psycho Pathologique, University of Kinshasa, P.O. Box 127 Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Joe Gwatsvaira
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Limerick, V94 T9PX Limerick, Ireland
Samir Kumar-Singh
Molecular Pathology Group, Laboratory of Cell Biology & Histology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium
Robert Colebunders
Global Health Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium
Onchocerciasis-associated epilepsy (OAE) is a devastating childhood disorder occurring in areas with high Onchocerca volvulus transmission. Despite epidemiological evidence showing the association between O. volvulus and epilepsy, the underlying mechanism remains unknown. Since high levels of serotonin are known to induce seizures, we investigated serotonin levels in persons with OAE and controls selected from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Serum serotonin levels were determined by ELISA in 19 persons with OAE, 32 persons with epilepsy without O. volvulus infection, 18 with O. volvulus infection but without epilepsy, and 35 with neither O. volvulus infection nor epilepsy. O. volvulus infection was diagnosed by skin snip testing and/or OV16 antibody detection. Serum serotonin levels were significantly decreased in persons with OAE compared to persons with O. volvulus infection and no epilepsy. In conclusion, an increased serotonin level is unable to explain the pathogenesis of OAE. Other hypotheses to identify the causal mechanism of OAE will need to be investigated.
