Several studies have shown elevated levels of IL-1Ra in focal epilepsy.[45,46] Such levels of IL-1Ra may help the nervous system protect itself against excitotoxic neuronal damage.[47] Research has found that IL-1RA enhances epileptic refractoriness in a mouse model of hippocampal ignition, and this evidence points to the increased presence of IL-Ra as a contributing factor to focal epileptogenesis, as the hippocampus tends to be a common site of epileptogenesis in the temporal lobes.[48] The exact mechanism for this has yet to be discovered. This evidence concerns the gene IL7R and focal epilepsy.