title: Sister-chromatid exchanges are increased in epileptics, but not by sodium valproate.
abstract: Sister-chromatid exchange (SCE) frequency has been studied from peripheral blood lymphocyte cultures of 21 patients with epilepsy on sodium valproate, 20 patients who had not started therapy (untreated) and 20 normal healthy controls. Treated and untreated patients with epilepsy were observed to have higher SCE frequencies (mean 9.05 and 9.82 respectively) than healthy controls (mean 4.8; P < 0.001). There was no significant difference in SCE frequency between treated and untreated patients. This suggests that the disease itself may be associated with an increased frequency of SCEs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Taneja
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kucheria
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jain
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Tandon
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Maheshwari
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D008875:Middle Aged; D009153:Mutagens / Q000633:toxicity*; D012854:Sister Chromatid Exchange; D014635:Valproic Acid / Q000627:therapeutic use / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D009153:Mutagens; D014635:Valproic Acid