Role of the Immunological Markers in the Pathogenesis of Symptomatic Epilepsy in Children
Abstract
The objective of our study was to determine the profile of the spontaneous and mitogen-induced cytokine production in children with symptomatic epilepsy of different etiologies. Materials and Methods: We examined 38 patients (aged between 3 and 18 years) with consequences of strokes (18.4%), neuroinfections (36.8%), neonatal brain injury (28.9%), and brain development anomalies (15.8%). The levels of spontaneous and mitogen-induced production of the main cytokines (IL-2, IL-6, IL-1β, TNFα) were determined by ELISA. Results: We traced the decrease and/or inhibition in the production of the main regulatory cytokines of monocyte-macrophage profile (TNFα, IL-1β, IL-6) and adaptive immunity (IL-2) in children with symptomatic epilepsy; and we also revealed the insufficiency of the innate immunity factors in children, which was expressed in the suppression of the regulatory cytokine production, even with in vitro stimulation.