title: Association between human cytomegalovirus and onset of epilepsy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the association between human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) and epilepsy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Epilepsy patients (n = 112) in neurology clinic of our hospital during January 2012 and December 2014 were allocated to the case groups, including intractable epilepsy group (n = 96) and non-intractable epilepsy group (n = 16). Healthy individual (n = 120) who received physical examination during the same period were allocated to the control group. The expression of serum HCMV late gene pp67-RNA was detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The expressions of serum HCMV immunoglobulin G (IgG), immunoglobulin M (IgM) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Serum hypersensitive c-reactive protein (hs-CRP) was detected by latex-enhanced immunoturbidimetry. The electroencephalogram (EEG) of refractory epilepsy group, non-refractory epilepsy group and control group were recorded.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The expression of pp67-mRNA was significantly higher in intractable epilepsy group than non-intractable epilepsy group (P < 0.05) and control group (P < 0.001). The HCMV-IgG positive rate and HCMV-IgM positive rate were significantly higher in intractable epilepsy group than control group (both P < 0.001). The HCMV-IgM positive rate was significantly higher in intractable epilepsy group than non-intractable epilepsy group (P < 0.001). The HCMV-IgM positive rate was significantly higher in non-intractable epilepsy group than control group (P < 0.001). The hs-CRP and IL-6 levels presented descending trends respectively in intractable epilepsy group, non-intractable epilepsy group and control group (all P < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HCMV was prominently expressed in epilepsy and might contribute to the development of epilepsy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Linyi People's Hospital of Shandong Province Linyi 276002, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Hong-Yan
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Lei
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Linyi People's Hospital of Shandong Province Linyi 276002, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Dai-Qun
authors.initials: DQ
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Linyi People's Hospital of Shandong Province Linyi 276002, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Yu-Xin
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Linyi People's Hospital of Shandong Province Linyi 276002, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Li-Quan
authors.initials: LQ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Linyi People's Hospital of Shandong Province Linyi 276002, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Mei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zheng
keywords: Human cytomegalovirus; Seizure type; electroencephalogram; epilepsy; non-refractory epilepsy; pp67; refractory; viral antibody