Ha J, et al. - Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin-4 (IL-4) levels in patients with febrile seizure (FS) were compared with those in controls and the connection between cytokines and various other factors then examined. Study results supported the role of TNF-α production in the pathogenesis of febrile seizures, with possible evidence of the involvement of IL-4 as well. IL-4 and TNF-α levels both correlated with the number of seizures and lactate levels.

Methods

• Experts enrolled 50 FS patients who visited Konkuk University Hospital from December 2015 to December 2016.
• The control group consisted of 39 subjects who had fever without seizures.
• An assessment was performed on serum samples from febrile patients with a history of febrile seizures without present seizures (FPH) (N = 12) and from the afebrile seizure (AF) group (N = 13).
• In the FS group, cytokine levels among patients stratified by sex, family history, seizure recurrence, duration of seizure and serum lactate levels were compared.

Results

• Substantially higher median serum TNF-α level was found in the FS group (19.54 pg/mL) compared to the control group (15.86 pg/mL).
• Results identified higher median serum IL-4 levels in the FS group (3.38 pg/mL) vs control group (3.30 pg/mL).
• Serum IL-4 and TNF-α levels in the FS group were associated with seizure recurrence and serum lactate levels, though not with family history, duration of seizures or sex.