Fetal Pig Cells Reduced Seizures in Two Epileptics

Two men whose epileptic seizures couldn’t be prevented by drugs got relief after fetal pig cells were implanted in their brains, an encouraging but very preliminary result.

One 40-year-old patient had been averaging about one seizure a month in which he blacked out. He hasn’t had any such episodes since the surgery July 2, said neurologist Dr. Steven Schachter of Harvard Medical School.

A 45-year-old man had 22 seizures in the three months before his surgery last January, but only 13 in three months after the procedure, Schachter said. The seizures made the man unresponsive and sometimes caused convulsions and confusion.

Both patients continued on medications after the cells were transplanted. The second man eventually had the seizure-triggering site in his brain removed, Schachter said in a recent telephone interview.

The men were part of a study to see if the transplants were feasible and safe. It’s too soon to tell how useful they might be, Schachter said. No side effects were observed.

Schachter was to present the results Dec. 7 in San Diego at the annual meeting of the American Epilepsy Society. He did the work with neurologist Dr. Donald Schomer of Harvard.

The researchers think the cells can reduce seizures by pumping out a natural substance called GABA. Schachter said he hopes that transplants could eventually help people with epilepsy who can’t be satisfactorily treated with drugs or standard surgery.