The Relationship Between Serum and Cerebrospinal Fluid Concentrations of Zinc in Febrile Seizure

Abstract

Background: Febrile Seizure (FS) which has different causes, is the most prevalent seizure type in children. Studies supported the role of Zinc (Zn) in FS. Objectives: The present study aimed to evaluate the serum and Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) Zn level in children with FS. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 50 patients with FS aged 6 months-6 years in Amirkola Children’s Hospital in 2013-2014. The required demographic and clinical data were recorded employing a checklist. The serum and CSF Zn levels were determined using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS) method. The collected data were analyzed in SPSS using the Chi-squared teste, Independent Samples t-test, and Pearson correlation coefficient. Results: The mean±SD age of the explored patients was 12.78±8.38 months and their mean±SD serum Zn level was equal to 0.68±0.62 µg/L. In total, 34(68%) of these 50 children presented Zn deficiency. The mean±SD CSF Zn level was measured as 33.29±11.84 µg/L. Moreover, the mean±SD CSF Zn level was equal to 37.71±10.82 and 31.21±11.87 in normal and abnormal serum Zn groups, respectively. In terms of mean CSF Zn level, there was no significant difference between the studied patients with healthy and decreased serum Zn level; (P=0.07). No significant difference was found between the demographic/clinical characteristics of the investigated patients with FS and normal/abnormal serum levels of Zn (P>0.05). Conclusions: The obtained data revealed that a significant number of patients with FS had decreased serum Zn level; however, no association was detected between serum and CSF Zn concentration levels.

Keywords

• febrile seizure
• seizures
• zinc
• epilepsy