Increased interleukin-6 and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein levels in pediatric epilepsy patients with frequent, refractory generalized motor seizures

AbstractPurposeRecently, it was found that chronic inflammation contributes to the pathomechanism of diverse chronic diseases in various organs. There is accumulating evidence that inflammatory processes affect the pathophysiology of epilepsy. We investigated inflammatory markers to determine the chronic inflammatory process underlying the pathophysiology of intractable epilepsy presenting with frequent motor seizures in children.MethodIn total, 29 patients with epilepsy and 15 children as control subjects were enrolled. Patients were divided into the DS (daily generalized motor seizures) and the IS (intermittent seizures) groups. Blood levels of serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), plasma pentraxin 3 (PTX3), serum tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-β1 were evaluated in all participants.ResultsHs-CRP levels were significantly higher in the DS group (0.149±0.161mg/dL) than in either the IS or control group (0.0156±0.0136 and 0.0253±0.0288mg/dL, p<0.005 and p<0.05, respectively), while there was no significant difference between the IS and control groups. The IL-6 level was also significantly higher in the DS group (8.022±0.161pg/mL) than in either the IS or the control group (7.783±0.0563 and 7.864±0.072pg/mL; p<0.005 and p