Evaluation of the effect of anti-epileptic drugs on serum immunoglobulin levels in children with epilepsy

Abstract

Introduction: Most antiepileptic drugs may have side effects such as behavioral disorders and immunological changes, which can affect serum levels of immunoglobulins. Objective: To study the effect of anticonvulsant drugs on serum levels immunoglobulins in children referred to the Taleghani educational center of Gorgan during 2015-2016. Patients and Methods: All pediatric patients with the first seizure experience diagnosed with diagnostic procedures such as history, physical examination and electroencephalography were diagnosed and treated with phenobarbital or levetiracetam were included. At first and at the end of the study, 5 cc blood samples were taken for measuring serum IgA, IgM, IgG and IgE levels. The time between two blood sampling was six months. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 18 software. Results: A total of 179 children were enrolled in the study, of which 104 (58.1%) were male and 75 (41.9%) were female. Around 78 (43.6%) were treated with levetiracetam and 101 (56.4%) were treated phenobarbital. The mean age of the patients was 3.33 ± 1.21 years. Based on statistical tests, the significant effect of both drugs on all indices was significant, which in all cases reduced the level of immunoglobulins. Additionally, the effect of drugs or, in other words, the amount of changes caused by them on different indices in terms of drug used was also investigated, which results showed no significant difference between the effect of the two drugs. Conclusion: From the results of this study, it can be concluded that both levetiracetam and phenobarbital have potentially influenced the immunoglobulins with the same effect. The results of this study may indicate the need to pay attention to the vulnerability of these children to various types of infections.