IL-1β, IL-6 and IL1Ra levels in temporal lobe epilepsy

Purpose: There is now extensive evidence to support the involvement of inflammation in the course of epileptic seizures. Seizure-induced changes in serum IL-1 beta, IL-6 and IL-1Ra levels are reported in several studies. Serum cytokine levels may also be disturbed in inter-ictal period due to seizure activity. Methods: Twenty-one patients (12 women; mean age 35 +/- 12.3) with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), 17 patients (8 women; mean age 31.8 +/- 10.4) with extra-temporal lobe epilepsy (XLE) and 20 normal controls (10 women; mean age 35.6 +/- 8.8) were included in the study. Serum levels of IL-1 beta, IL-6 and IL-1Ra of the TLE, XLE groups in inter-ictal period and of the normal control group were compared. Results: All three cytokine levels are found to be significantly elevated in epilepsy patients when compared to controls (p < 0.05). In TLE group, IL-beta serum levels were significantly higher than in the XLE group (p < 0001). Conclusion: The major findings in our study were increased levels of IL-1 beta IL-6 and IL-1Ra in epileptic patients and high levels of IL-1 beta in TLE group. Our results support the existence of a chronic inflammatory state in epileptic patients. (C) 2015 British Epilepsy Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.