Serum Interleukin-6 as a Potential Biomarker in Absence Epilepsy

Abs tractAim: The role of inflammation in absence epilepsy remains a subject of debate.The present study aims to assess the role of interleukin-6 (IL-6) in absence epilepsy by determining serum IL-6 levels of children with absence epilepsy and the association with anti-seizure medications, seizure frequency, and semiology by comparing to a control group.Methods: Fifteen children aged 3-17 years who were followed up with the diagnosis of absence epilepsy and 30 healthy controls were included in this cross-sectional observational study between November 2020 and April 2021.Serum IL-6 levels of subjects were measured by the chemiluminescence method.Results: Serum IL-6 levels in the patient group were significantly lower (2.981.02pg/mL) than in the controls (5.350.87pg/mL) (p<0.001).The patients receiving valproic acid monotherapy had significantly lower serum IL-6 levels than both the patients receiving other anti-seizure medications and healthy controls (p=0.04).Patients with active seizures had higher serum IL-6 levels than seizure-free patients (3.520.54pg/mL, 2.721.12pg/mL; p=0.01, respectively).Moreover, there was a moderate to strong positive correlation between the presence of active seizures and serum IL-6 levels (Spearman's p=0.629, p=0.0069). Conclusion:Our study is the first clinical investigation of IL-6 concentrations in absence epilepsy patients and possible relations between IL-6 and patient characteristics.