Mechanisms of nerve regeneration for drug-resistant epilepsy: scoping review protocol

Drug-resistant epilepsy is defined as “the failure of adequate trials of two tolerated, appropriately chosen and used antiepileptic drug schedules”, 30-40% of the patients with epilepsy present this condition decreasing their quality-of-life and increasing mortality risk. Current literature suggests therapeutic alternatives such as surgery or neurostimulation, but they show some limitations. Unless degenerative progression is prevented and the regulatory role of interneurons is restored, patients with drug-resistant epilepsy may not reach seizure freedom. Ongoing studies have developed techniques to manoeuvre signalling pathways for neural regeneration in the central nervous system, this is defined as “the regrowth or repair of nervous tissues, cells or cell products”. This scoping review protocol aims to evaluate the therapeutic potential of modulating nerve regeneration pathways for patients with drug-resistant epilepsy. Published studies (all publication types) will be retrieved from Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, EBSCOhost, Ovid, and Google Scholar, from database inception to present. Studies describing patients or experimental models of drug-resistant epilepsy receiving any treatment modulating nerve regeneration pathways will be included. Studies in languages different than Spanish or English that could not be appropriately translated or whose full-text files could not be retrieved after all efforts made will be excluded. Studies will be assessed for eligibility by two independent researchers. Results will be presented in tables. A narrative synthesis will be provided.