title: Plasma interleukin-1beta levels in children with febrile seizures.
abstract: Proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines regulate the febrile response during infection. In this study, the role of cytokines in the pathogenesis of febrile seizures was investigated, through comparing levels of interleukin-1beta in the peripheral blood of children with febrile seizures and in a matched control group of children with febrile illnesses without seizures. The study included 33 children with febrile seizures (mean +/- SD, 29.94 +/- 14.9 months) and 38 controls with comparable age, sex, and type of infection. A laboratory workup for the diagnosis of infection was performed, and interleukin-1beta levels were assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the patients and the control groups immediately on arrival at the hospital. The plasma levels of interleukin-1beta were comparable in the patients and the control group (mean +/- SD, 7.321 +/- 3.123 and 8.087 +/- 4.8 pg/mL, respectively). Furthermore, there was no significant difference when comparing the plasma levels of interleukin-1beta in patients with simple and complex types of febrile seizures. Plasma interleukin-1beta levels did not show a significant correlation to either the duration of the last seizure, the number of the previous attacks of febrile convulsion, or the degree of temperature. However, interleukin-1beta levels were negatively correlated to the duration from the last seizure attack (r = -.8). Thus, the results of the present study do not support the hypothesis that increased production of interleukin-1beta is involved in the pathogenesis of febrile seizures in children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt. hoda_tomoum@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Hoda Y
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Tomoum
authors.forename: Nagya M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Badawy
authors.forename: Afaf A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Mostafa
authors.forename: Manal Y
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Harb
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D053583:Interleukin-1beta / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D003294:Seizures, Febrile / Q000097:blood*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
chemical_list: D053583:Interleukin-1beta