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Faculty Profiles

Faculty Research Areas

José E. Cavazos, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Medicine (Neurology) and Pharmacology

Office: (210) 617-5300 x4373 or 617-5161
E-Mail: cavazosj@uthscsa.edu

My laboratory studies activity-dependent plasticity in the hippocampal formation in the developing, adult, and aged brain using a variety of experimental models of epilepsy, seizures, and epileptogenesis. Previous studies from my laboratory have shown that repeated seizures induce progressive neuronal death and axon sprouting that permanently alter the hippocampal circuitry lending it more susceptible to additional seizures and memory dysfunction. We currently are investigating the molecular mechanisms that link the synchronous neuronal hyperexcitability with these morphological events including the role of caspases using in-vivo models and in-vitro organotypic hippocampal slice cultures. We investigate the features of seizure-induced axon sprouting in other limbic circuitries using anatomical tracing techniques, and their electrophysiological consequences in the neuronal excitability of the abnormally connected circuitry using brain slices. Lastly, we are evaluating several antagonists at the various steps in this cascade that leads to circuit plasticity with the aim of identifying the crucial steps in the epileptogenic process amenable to novel pharmacological targets for a better treatment of seizures and epilepsy.

Selected Publications

Cross, D.J., J.E. Cavazos. Synaptic Reorganization in Subiculum and CA3 after Early-Life Status Epilepticus in the Kainic Acid Rat Model. Epilepsy Research 2007 Feb;73(2):156-65. Epub 2006 Oct 27.

Cavazos, J.E., D.J. Cross. The Role of Synaptic Reorganization in Mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy. Epilepsy and Behavior 2006 May;8(3):483-93. Epub 2006 Feb 24.

Pugh MJV, L.A. Copeland, J.E. Zeber, M.T. Amuan, J.A. Cramer, J.E. Cavazos, L.E. Kazis. The Impact of Epilepsy on health status among younger and older adults. Epilepsia, 46:1820-1827, 2005.

Cavazos, J.E., S.M. Jones., D.J. Cross. Sprouting and Synaptic Reorganization in the Subiculum and CA1 Region of the Hippocampus in Acute and Chronic Models of Partial-Onset Epilepsy. Neuroscience 126: 677-688, 2004.

Cavazos, J.E., Sanchez R. Mechanisms of Seizures and Epilepsy" Chapter 2 of the "Epilepsy: Scientific Foundations of Clinical Practice," edited by Rho JM, Sankar R, Cavazos JE (Eds.) Marcel, Dekker Inc. pp. 4-20, 2004. ISBN 0-8247-5043-8.

Cavazos, J.E., P. Zhang, R. Qazi, T.P. Sutula. (2003) Ultrastructural Features of Sprouted Mossy Fiber Synapses in Kindled and Kainic Acid-Treated Rats. Journal of Comparative Neurology 458: 272-292, 2003.

Cross, D, Diep, Y., Zhang, K., Cavazos, J. “Neonatal Status Epilepticus induces Sprouting and Synaptic Reorganization of the CA1 to Subiculum pathway in the Hippocampus. Soc. Neurosci. Abstr. 29: 211.2, 2003.

Cavazos JE, Kanske J, Perez J, Garcia M. Neuroprotective effects of topiramate in the kainic acid model of status epilepticus. Epilepsia 43 (Suppl. 7):15 (Abst. 1.035), 2002.

Recent Clinical Trials of Antiepileptic Drugs

Rowan A.J., R.E. Ramsay, J.F. Collins, F. Pryor, B.M. Uthman, M. Spitz, T. Frederick, A. Towne, G.S. Carter, W. Marks, J. Felicetta, M.L. Tomyanovich, and VA Cooperative Study #428 Group (Cavazos, J.E. et al.). New Onset Geriatric Epilepsy: A Randomized Study of Gabapentin, Lamotrigine and Carbamazepine. Neurology, 64:1868-1873.

Schimschock J.R., A. E. Hammer, R.P. Kustra, J.A. Messenheimer, SCAA4008 investigators (Cavazos, J.E. et al.). Effects of Lamotrigine Monotherapy in Patients with Newly Diagnosed Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy: An Open-Label Study. Current Therapeutic Research 66(3):230-237, 2005.

Morris, G.L., A.E. Hammerb, R.P. Kustrab, J.A. Messenheimer, SCAA4008 investigators (Cavazos, J.E. et al.). Lamotrigine for patients with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy following prior treatment with valproate: Results of an open-label study. Epilepsy and Behavior 5:509-512, 2004.

Kaminow L., Schimschock J.R., Hammer A.E., Vuong A., SCAA4005 investigators (Cavazos, J.E. et al.). Lamotrigine monotherapy compared with carbamazepine, phenytoin, or valproate monotherapy in patients with epilepsy. Epilepsy and Behavior 4:659-666, 2003.