Epilepsy, phenytoin and serum IgA concentrations in some Egyptian children

ABSTRACT

A study was conducted on 30 epileptic Egyptian children divided into two groups Group 1 [15 patients without any anticonvulsant treatment] and group 2 [15 patients receiving phenytoin regularly for a duration of 4 months to 7.6 years]. A group of 10 normal children of the same age and social level were used as controls. Serum concentration of IgA was significantly decreased in the phenytoin treated epileptic children as well as in the untreated epileptics in comparison with controls. It was suggested that phenytoin treatment suppresses the normal serum IgA and that epilepsy may be a contributing factor. Further investigations in this direction may give an indication of the etiology of epilepsy or its pathogenesis