title: IgA deficiency, epilepsy, and phenytoin treatment.
abstract: In a prospective study of thirty-two children with seizures treated with phenytoin (diphenylhydantoin), five had low levels of serum-IgA before treatment. All of these were among the fifteen who had had febrile convulsions in infancy. IgA levels fell significantly during 6 months treatment in the fourteen patients studied sequentially. Treated children with low serum-IgA had normal numbers of lymphocytes with surface IgA. This suggests that phenytoin causes failure of terminal differentiation of B lymphocytes, and is the first known cause of this, the commonest mechanism of immunoglobulin deficiency.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000276:immunology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017098:IgA Deficiency; D007070:Immunoglobulin A / Q000378:metabolism; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000378:metabolism; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000378:metabolism; D007153:Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes / Q000139:chemically induced; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D010672:Phenytoin / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011446:Prospective Studies
chemical_list: D007070:Immunoglobulin A; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M; D010672:Phenytoin