Epilepsy includes a group of disorders of the brain characterized by an enduring predisposition to generate epileptic seizures. Although familial epilepsy has a genetic component and heritability, the etiology of the majority of non-familial epilepsies has no known associated genetic mutations. In epilepsy, recent epigenetic profiles have highlighted a possible role of microRNAs in its pathophysiology. In particular, molecular profiling identifies a significant number of microRNAs (miRNAs) altered in epileptic hippocampus of both animal models and human tissues. In this review, analyzing molecular profiles of different animal models of epilepsy, we identified a group of 20 miRNAs commonly altered in different epilepsy-animal models. As emerging evidences highlighted the poor overlap between signatures of animal model tissues and human samples, we focused our analysis on miRNAs, circulating in human biofluids, with a principal role in epilepsy hallmarks, and we identified a group of 8 diagnostic circulating miRNAs. We discussed the functional role of these 8 miRNAs in the epilepsy hallmarks. A few of them have also been proposed as therapeutic molecules for epilepsy treatment, revealing a great potential for miRNAs as theranostic molecules in epilepsy.

癫痫病包括一组大脑疾病，其特征在于持久的易感性以产生癫痫发作。尽管家族性癫痫具有遗传成分和遗传性，但大多数非家族性癫痫的病因学尚不知道相关的遗传突变。在癫痫病中，最近的表观遗传学特征突出了microRNA在其病理生理中的可能作用。特别地，分子谱分析鉴定出动物模型和人类组织的癫痫海马中大量的微小RNA（miRNA）发生了变化。在这篇综述中，通过分析不同癫痫动物模型的分子概况，我们鉴定出一组在不同癫痫动物模型中通常发生改变的20个miRNA。新兴的证据突显出动物模型组织和人类样品之间的标记重叠不佳，我们将分析重点放在人类生物流体中循环的miRNA（在癫痫症的标志性疾病中起主要作用），并鉴定出一组8个诊断性循环miRNA。我们讨论了这8个miRNA在癫痫症特征中的功能作用。还提出了其中一些作为癫痫治疗的治疗分子，揭示了miRNA作为癫痫治疗分子的巨大潜力。