An observational study in Dravet Syndrome (DS), sponsored by Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS. Not yet recruiting at 9 sites in Italy. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-03.
Sponsored by Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS · Observational
Dravet syndrome (DS) is a developmental and epileptic encephalopathy, usually caused by de novo pathogenic SCN1A variants, characterized by early-onset prolonged febrile seizures, subsequent drug-resistant polymorphic epilepsy, developmental impairment, and, in some patients, progressive motor, cognitive and behavioral decline. Despite the expanding therapeutic landscape, objective biomarkers for disease stratification, monitoring and treatment response are lacking. Blood-based markers of neurodegeneration, synaptic plasticity and neuroinflammation are promising candidates because they are minimally invasive and may capture biological processes involved in disease progression.
TEMBO-DS is a prospective multicenter observational pilot study enrolling 60 individuals with DS and 30 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. DS participants will carry pathogenic or likely pathogenic SCN1A variants and fulfill ILAE clinical criteria, with no age limits. Individuals with epileptic spasms, SCN1A gain-of-function encephalopathy, structural causes of epilepsy, or systemic, oncological, autoimmune or neurodegenerative conditions potentially affecting biomarker levels will be excluded.
At baseline, demographic and clinical variables will be collected, including age at seizure onset, seizure type and frequency, status epilepticus, SCN1A variant type, cognitive, motor, behavioral and sleep profiles, comorbidities and ongoing treatments. Blood samples obtained during routine clinical sampling will be analyzed for biomarkers of neurodegeneration and glial injury (NfL, GFAP, tau-related markers), synaptic plasticity (BDNF) and neuroinflammation. In a subgroup of DS participants, clinical assessment and blood sampling will be repeated after approximately 12 months.
The study will assess whether biomarker levels differ between DS and controls and whether they correlate with clinically relevant measures of disease severity and longitudinal change. Particular emphasis will be placed on the relationship between NfL and Vineland adaptive functioning, including their changes over 12 months and the effect of treatment modifications. Group comparisons, correlation analyses and longitudinal mixed-effects models will be used, with adjustment for relevant covariates and multiple testing.
The study is expected to identify one or more blood-based biomarkers, or biomarker combinations, associated with DS, disease severity and clinical evolution. These findings may provide objective measures for future natural-history studies and therapeutic trials, including the assessment of non-seizure outcomes.
Subjects with a diagnosis of Dravet Syndrome (disease onset between 1 and 20 months of life, recurrent febrile and afebrile hemiclonic seizures, as well as focal seizures evolving to bilateral tonic-clonic seizures and/or generalized tonic-clonic seizures) without age limits, and control subjects matched for sex and age, as per the inclusion criteria.
Subjects with Dravet Syndrome (DS):
Healthy controls (HC):
Exclusion Criteria:
Patients with SCN1A-related Dravet Syndrome defined according to ILAE 2022 criteria and with pathogenic or likely pathogenic SCN1A variants
Subjects without neurological disorders for whom a blood sample is planned for screening or for clinical questions not conflicting with the exclusion criteria matched for age and sex to the DS group (±2 years)
Identify promising biomarkers in DS at T0
The purpose is to verify whether biomarkers of neurodegeneration, synaptic plasticity and neuroinflammation are altered in DS compared with controls matched for sex and age, and whether they correlate with clinical variables at baseline (e.g. age at onset, disease duration, history of status epilepticus, mutation type, degree of intellectual disability, degree of motor and behavioral impairment).
Time frame: 1 day
Verify the natural course of biomarkers over time and the correlation with factors occurring between T0 and T1
After 12 months, clinical variables and biological samples will again be collected. The objective is to verify how the processes of neurodegeneration, synaptic plasticity and neuroinflammation change with disease evolution between T0 and T1. In the analysis of factors occurring between T0 and T1, both changes in symptoms and treatment changes will be considered.
Time frame: 12 months
This study is not yet recruiting, as verified in Aug 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS