Our research showed that downregulation of KCC2 and microstructural abnormalities might contribute to the observed refractoriness in temporal lobe epilepsy.
The neuronal specific K<sup>+</sup>/Cl<sup>-</sup> co-transporter 2 (KCC2) is a critical determinant of the efficacy of GABAergic inhibition and deficits in its activity are observed in mTLE patients and animal models of epilepsy.
We conclude that the anomalous expression of both Cl(-) transporters, NKCC1 and KCC2 [corrected] in TLE hippocampal subiculum probably causes altered Cl(-) transport in the "epileptic" neurons, as revealed in the microtransplanted Xenopus oocytes, and renders GABA aberrantly "exciting," a feature that may contribute to the precipitation of epileptic seizures.