Immunogenetic aspects of febrile convulsions.
Thirty-nine mentally normal unrelated children diagnosed as having febrile convulsions were included in this study. The following have been carried out: (a) detailed anamnesis and clinical examination; (b) cerebrospinal fluid investigation; (c) EEG examination between attacks; (d) HLA-antigen determination; (e) estimation of serum IgA, IgG, IgM; and (f) counting of percent spontaneous E-rosette formation. The results were statistically compared to normal Egyptian controls. The results could be summarised as follows. (1) Only HLA-B5 antigen frequency is high among patients (chi 2c = 19.1, P less than 0.0001). Relative risk is 4.4 which shows significant association (WY2 = 29.145, P less than 0.0001) and etiologic fraction equals 0.377. (2) The means of IgA and E-rosette in the patients were significantly low (t = 3.46, P less than 0.01 and t = 3.92, P less than 0.001, respectively), (3) HLA-B5 is the only antigen with high frequency among the two groups of patients with low IgA and E-rosette (chi 2c = 11.9 and 18.2, respectively). (4) There is a significant association between B5 and low IgA (P less than 0.05) but not with low E-rosette (P greater than 0.05). The suggestion is that the genetic control of febrile convulsions is in linkage disequilibrium with HLA-B5, low IgA and low total T-cells. This altered immune function in otherwise normal children with febrile convulsions may predispose them to acute infections and high fever which precipitate convulsions.
D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D008040:Genetic Linkage; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000235:genetics; D015235:HLA-B Antigens; D006801:Humans; D017098:IgA Deficiency; D007070:Immunoglobulin A / Q000235:genetics; D007223:Infant; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008297:Male; D012397:Rosette Formation; D003294:Seizures, Febrile / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology
D006680:HLA Antigens; D015235:HLA-B Antigens; C035270:HLA-B5 antigen; D007070:Immunoglobulin A