The emerging concept of blood genomic profiling in childhood epilepsy

The identification of transcriptional biomarkers or “signatures” in the peripheral blood is of great importance especially for neurological disorders, such as epilepsy, since brain is inaccessible and sensitive to permanent damage. The technology of gene expression analysis with DNA microarrays allows the simultaneous examination of the mRNA from the whole gemone and can give clues to the disease pathophysiology and involved biological pathways. This paper focuses on studies that have addressed this issue and discusses some more issues of concern and future directions.