NCT03400371

Biology of Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: —
• Study type: Observational
• Enrollment: 1,000 (estimated)
• Sponsor: King's College London · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 10 Years – 40 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The investigators are collecting genetic information through blood samples as well as clinical and EEG data from over 1000 people with Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy (JME) across the UK, Europe and North America. This study will draw on both existing and new samples from JME patients. These will be compared to anonymised data from samples for 2000 controls. The goal of this study is to find the genetic cause of JME. Finding the cause will help create better treatments for JME, as well as improve patient outcomes by allowing us to detect it earlier.

Detailed description

Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder affecting 1% of the population. There are over 30 types of epilepsy, some common, some rare. Most epilepsies arise in childhood and have a genetic cause. Approximately 40% of patients have the common forms of Genetic Generalised Epilepsy (GGE), and the commonest GGE is "Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy" or JME. The goal of this study is to find the genetic cause for JME. The investigators will do this by comparing the genetic code in JME patients with that in people who do not have epilepsy. This study will use clues from their electroencephalograph or brainwave test that is used to help diagnose epilepsy. Participants will provide a single blood sample, along with permission to collect clinical data about their diagnosis and a copy of their clinical EEG. There is no direct benefit or risk to the research participants but the results from this study may help other people with epilepsy or brain impairments in the future. There is overwhelming evidence that JME is caused by changes in genetic code. These changes are likely to be found in more than just one gene and there may be more than one type of change. In order to find these changes, this study will look at a large number of people with JME and compare their genetic code with people who do not have epilepsy. Finding the causes of JME will lead to better understanding of its cause, new treatments, and tailoring of treatments according to a person's genetic make-up.

Conditions

• Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Blood draw	Participation includes one visit for one blood draw per recruited patient. 10-20ml peripheral venous blood will be taken from the antecubital fossa. The DNA from the blood sample will then be extracted and resequenced for analysis.
OTHER	Existing samples	Control DNA samples will be used that have been previously acquired in other studies.

Timeline

• Start date: 2017-07-13
• Primary completion: 2026-06-30
• Completion: 2026-12-31
• First posted: 2018-01-17
• Last updated: 2025-09-05

Locations

15 sites across 9 countries: United States, Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Italy, Norway, United Kingdom