Biomarkers of Neurodegeneration, Synaptic Plasticity and Neuroinflammation in Dravet Syndrome

Dravet syndrome (DS) is a developmental and epileptic encephalopathy, usually caused by de novo pathogenic SCN1A variants, characterized by early-onset prolonged febrile seizures, subsequent drug-resistant polymorphic epilepsy, developmental impairment, and, in some patients, progressive motor, cognitive and behavioral decline. Despite the expanding therapeutic landscape, objective biomarkers for disease stratification, monitoring and treatment response are lacking. Blood-based markers of neurodegeneration, synaptic plasticity and neuroinflammation are promising candidates because they are minimally invasive and may capture biological processes involved in disease progression.

TEMBO-DS is a prospective multicenter observational pilot study enrolling 60 individuals with DS and 30 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. DS participants will carry pathogenic or likely pathogenic SCN1A variants and fulfill ILAE clinical criteria, with no age limits. Individuals with epileptic spasms, SCN1A gain-of-function encephalopathy, structural causes of epilepsy, or systemic, oncological, autoimmune or neurodegenerative conditions potentially affecting biomarker levels will be excluded.

At baseline, demographic and clinical variables will be collected, including age at seizure onset, seizure type and frequency, status epilepticus, SCN1A variant type, cognitive, motor, behavioral and sleep profiles, comorbidities and ongoing treatments. Blood samples obtained during routine clinical sampling will be analyzed for biomarkers of neurodegeneration and glial injury (NfL, GFAP, tau-related markers), synaptic plasticity (BDNF) and neuroinflammation. In a subgroup of DS participants, clinical assessment and blood sampling will be repeated after approximately 12 months.

The study will assess whether biomarker levels differ between DS and controls and whether they correlate with clinically relevant measures of disease severity and longitudinal change. Particular emphasis will be placed on the relationship between NfL and Vineland adaptive functioning, including their changes over 12 months and the effect of treatment modifications. Group comparisons, correlation analyses and longitudinal mixed-effects models will be used, with adjustment for relevant covariates and multiple testing.

The study is expected to identify one or more blood-based biomarkers, or biomarker combinations, associated with DS, disease severity and clinical evolution. These findings may provide objective measures for future natural-history studies and therapeutic trials, including the assessment of non-seizure outcomes.

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Key information

Conditions

Dravet Syndrome (DS) Brain Diseases Central Nervous System Diseases Epilepsies, Myoclonic Epilepsy Epilepsy, Generalized Epileptic Syndromes Nervous System Diseases

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Observational

Primary location

SOD Neuropsichiatria Infantile, Dipartimento Materno Infantile, Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria delle Marche, Ancona, Italy

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

Subjects with Dravet Syndrome (DS):

Subjects carrying SCN1A gene variants classified as pathogenic or likely pathogenic (classes IV and V), in association with the clinical criteria defined by the ILAE (Zuberi, 2022), including: disease onset between 1 and 20 months of life, recurrent febrile and afebrile hemiclonic seizures, as well as focal seizures evolving to bilateral tonic-clonic seizures and/or generalized tonic-clonic seizures, will be included in the study.
No age limits are planned for recruitment. In order to ensure adequate representation of the different age groups, at least one third of enrolled subjects will be younger than 10 years and at least one third older than 18 years.
Informed consent signed by the parent/guardian or by the patient themself if an adult. For adult patients with intellectual disability such as to impair the capacity to consent to participation, informed consent will be obtained from the guardian/legal representative.
Informed assent signed by the minor.

Healthy controls (HC):

Subjects without neurological disorders for whom a blood sample is planned for screening or for clinical questions not conflicting with the exclusion criteria, matched for age and sex to the DS group (±2 years).
Informed consent signed by the parent/guardian or by the patient themself if an adult.
Informed assent signed by the minor.

Exclusion criteria

Subjects with a history of epileptic spasms, early-onset epileptic encephalopathy associated with gain-of-function SCN1A variants, as well as subjects with brain MRI findings indicative of a focal cause of epilepsy.
Patients affected by systemic diseases, including autoimmune or oncological conditions, and by neurodegenerative diseases potentially able to interfere with the levels of the biomarkers under study.

Treatment and study plan

Primary outcomes

Identify promising biomarkers in DS at T0

Time frame: 1 day

The purpose is to verify whether biomarkers of neurodegeneration, synaptic plasticity and neuroinflammation are altered in DS compared with controls matched for sex and age, and whether they correlate with clinical variables at baseline (e.g. age at onset, disease duration, history of status epilepticus, mutation type, degree of intellectual disability, degree of motor and behavioral impairment).
Verify the natural course of biomarkers over time and the correlation with factors occurring between T0 and T1

Time frame: 12 months

After 12 months, clinical variables and biological samples will again be collected. The objective is to verify how the processes of neurodegeneration, synaptic plasticity and neuroinflammation change with disease evolution between T0 and T1. In the analysis of factors occurring between T0 and T1, both changes in symptoms and treatment changes will be considered.

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

Domenica Immacolata Battaglia

CONTACT

[email protected]

+39 0630156239

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS

Other

Registry information

Acronym: TEMBO-DS

Important dates

Study start: 2026
Primary completion: 2028
Study completion: 2028
First posted: Sep 3, 2026
Registry last updated: Sep 3, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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