Multi-omics: a bridge connecting genotype and phenotype for epilepsy?

Epilepsy is a collection of neurological disorders characterized by abnormal neuronal discharges, resulting in spontaneous and recurrent unprovoked seizures. Despite the use of over 20 anti-seizure drugs, conventional one-size-fits-all approaches are insufficient to meet the needs of all patients, and about 1/3 patients developed drug-resistant epilepsy. Recently, the establishment of precision medicine-based clinical management for epilepsy may bring new insights, especially omics-based approaches. Single omics approach is limited to addressing questions from a single molecular perspective. Whereas multi-omics approaches enable a comprehensive characterization of multiple molecules, revealing the complex molecular dysregulation networks underlying different epilepsy phenotypes. Furthermore, multi-omics methods have catalyzed a paradigm shift in scientific inquiry, transitioning from traditional hypothesis-driven types to data-driven research architectures. Despite the full potential of multi-omics research yet to be realized, its application in epilepsy holds great promise, from the discovery of epileptic biomarkers to personalized management. In this review, we performed a comprehensive overview of the omics technologies and multi-omics integration strategies, followed by an exploration of their role in enhancing the management of epilepsy treatment and care, hoping to provide new directions for future researches.