In addition to the priority in the discovery of the first water channel protein in the red blood
cell membrane the group of Gheorghe Benga in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, also has a world
priority in the discovery of the implications of water channel proteins in epilepsy and
Duchenne muscular dystrophy. This priority is briefly presented here. In 1977 Benga and
Morariu reported a decreased water permeability of red blood cells in children with
idiopathic epilepsy (cases selected by Ileana Benga). This investigation was performed as …

Folate and vitamin B12 are essential cofactors for the methionine/homocysteine cycle in the
brain. These vitamins mediate the remethylation of homocysteine (HCY), which affects the
production of the universal methyl donor, S-adenosylmethionine (SAM), in the brain among
other organs. Acquired or inherited disorders in these metabolic pathways are associated
with brain abnormalities and severe neurological symptoms that are mostly irreversible,
even after providing the missing cofactors. This review discusses the relationship between …