title: Interleukin-6 gene polymorphisms in Egyptian children with febrile seizures: a case-control study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Febrile seizures are the most common form of childhood seizures. Among pro-inflammatory cytokines, interleukin-6 is the key acute-phase cytokine. To date, only a few studies concerned the association of interleukin-6 gene polymorphisms with febrile seizures.In this study, we aimed to investigate 3 cytokine single-nucleotide polymorphisms situated at positions -174 (G/C), -572 (G/C), and -597 (G/A) in the promoter region of the interleukin-6 gene for the first time in Egyptian children with febrile seizures.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a case-control study included 100 patients with febrile seizure, and matched with age, gender, ethnicity 100 healthy control subjects. Interleukin-6 -174 (G/C), -572 (G/C), and -597 (G/A) polymorphisms were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP), while the serum IL6 levels were measured by ELISA method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared to the controls subjects, the frequency of the -174 GG and -597 GG IL6 genotypes were observed to be increased in children with febrile seizures (OR: 4.17; 95 % CI: 1.86-9.49; P <0.01 and OR: 1.96; 95 % CI: 1.06-3.63;P <0.05, respectively). We found a significant positive association between the -597 GG genotype and susceptibility to complex febrile seizures as did the G allele at the same position (OR: 4.2; 95 % CI: 1.4-13.3 for the GG genotype; P <0.01) and (OR: 2.89; 95 % CI: 1.1-7.7 for the G allele; P <0.05 respectively). Our data revealed no association between IL6- genotypes and serum IL6 levels in patients with febrile seizures (P > 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In conclusion, our data brought a novel observation that the presence of a G allele or GG genotype at the -174 and the GG genotype at the -597 positions of the promoter region of the interleukin-6 gene constitute risk factors for developing febrile seizures in Egyptian children. Moreover, we observed a significant positive association between the IL6 -597 GG genotype and susceptibility to complex febrile seizures as did the G allele at the same position. However, we found no association between IL6- genotypes and serum IL6 levels in patients with febrile seizures.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, 18 Omar Bin Elkhattab St, Al Qawmia, Zagazig City, AlSharqia Governorate, Egypt. Seham_Azab@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Seham F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Azab
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, 18 Omar Bin Elkhattab St, Al Qawmia, Zagazig City, AlSharqia Governorate, Egypt. Mohamedabdelhady59@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Mohamed A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Abdalhady
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, 18 Omar Bin Elkhattab St, Al Qawmia, Zagazig City, AlSharqia Governorate, Egypt. alshymahmed@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Alshaymaa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, 18 Omar Bin Elkhattab St, Al Qawmia, Zagazig City, AlSharqia Governorate, Egypt. drezatkamel@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Ezzat K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Amin
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, 18 Omar Bin Elkhattab St, Al Qawmia, Zagazig City, AlSharqia Governorate, Egypt. dinatawfek7@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Dina T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Sarhan
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, 18 Omar Bin Elkhattab St, Al Qawmia, Zagazig City, AlSharqia Governorate, Egypt. eelhindawy@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Eman M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Elhindawy
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, 18 Omar Bin Elkhattab St, Al Qawmia, Zagazig City, AlSharqia Governorate, Egypt. mohammed_malky@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Mohamed A A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Almalky
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, 18 Omar Bin Elkhattab St, Al Qawmia, Zagazig City, AlSharqia Governorate, Egypt. Elhewala@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ahmed A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Elhewala
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, 18 Omar Bin Elkhattab St, Al Qawmia, Zagazig City, AlSharqia Governorate, Egypt. mohammedabdelsalam732@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Mohamed M A
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Salam
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, 18 Omar Bin Elkhattab St, Al Qawmia, Zagazig City, AlSharqia Governorate, Egypt. abohashemmustafa@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Mustafa I A
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Hashem
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, 18 Omar Bin Elkhattab St, Al Qawmia, Zagazig City, AlSharqia Governorate, Egypt. dr.attia@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Attia A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Soliman
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, 18 Omar Bin Elkhattab St, Al Qawmia, Zagazig City, AlSharqia Governorate, Egypt. dr.akeel@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Nagwa E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Akeel
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, 18 Omar Bin Elkhattab St, Al Qawmia, Zagazig City, AlSharqia Governorate, Egypt. retalahmad111@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Sawsan H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Abdellatif
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, 18 Omar Bin Elkhattab St, Al Qawmia, Zagazig City, AlSharqia Governorate, Egypt. mohammed.sanaa61@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Sanaa M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Ismail
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, 18 Omar Bin Elkhattab St, Al Qawmia, Zagazig City, AlSharqia Governorate, Egypt. dr.nasamad@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Nahla A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Elsamad
authors.affiliation: Mansoura Student Hospital, Mansoura, Egypt. manalsarafat@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Manal S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Arafat
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, 18 Omar Bin Elkhattab St, Al Qawmia, Zagazig City, AlSharqia Governorate, Egypt. dr.ahmad65@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Anwar A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Rass
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, 18 Omar Bin Elkhattab St, Al Qawmia, Zagazig City, AlSharqia Governorate, Egypt. fzeidan22@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Maha A A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Basset
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004534:Egypt; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012307:Risk Factors; D003294:Seizures, Febrile / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D015850:Interleukin-6