Acute Phase Serum Leptin, Adiponectin, Interleukin-6, and Visfatin Are Altered in Chinese Children With Febrile Seizures: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Adipokines, including leptin, visfatin, adiponectin, and interleukin-6 (IL)-6, play multiple roles in the pathophysiology of epilepsy and febrile seizures (FS). We aimed to investigate the associations among plasma adipokines, mainly leptin, visfatin, adiponectin, or IL-6, and the prognosis of FS. This prospective cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2017 to December 2018 at the Wuxi Second People' Hospital China. The levels of serum leptin, visfatin, adiponectin, and IL-6 in 55 children with FS (FS group) were compared with 42 febrile children without seizure (FC group) and 48 healthy children (HC group) in an acute phase. The correlation with clinical indicators was determined by logistic regression analysis. Serum adiponectin and IL-6 levels were significantly higher in the FS group than in the FC and HC groups (p < 0.05), but there was no statistical difference between the FC and HC groups. In addition, logistic regression analysis showed that high concentrations of adiponectin and IL-6 were significantly associated with the occurrence of FS. For leptin and visfatin, they were significantly lower in the FS and FC groups than in the normal control group, but there was no statistical difference between the FS and FC groups. Our results suggest that higher plasma levels of IL-6 and adiponectin may serve as an additional biomarker in the early treatment or follow-up of the FS children.

A Comparative Analysis of Serum Interleukin-6 Levels in Children with Febrile Seizures and Febrile Controls

“…Across the world, the difference between IL-6 levels in children with FSs and fever without seizures has shown conflicting results. 1 2 3 4 7 8 9 Similar to our study, Choi et al observed that serum IL-6 levels in FSs were increased 1.8-fold when compared with FCs, but it was not statistically significant ( p = 0.07). 4 Güven et al also found no significant difference ( p = 0.66) in serum IL-6 levels between FS and FC groups which is similar to our study.…”

“…3 7 Advancement in molecular biology has led to increased interest in identifying the biomarkers for predicting or diagnosing FS. 1 IL-6 is often considered as key cytokine in the generation of FSs. 5 However, the published scientific literature has often failed to support this view as the results of IL-6 role in FS is inconsistent among various studies across the world.…”

“…5 However, the published scientific literature has often failed to support this view as the results of IL-6 role in FS is inconsistent among various studies across the world. [1][2][3][4]7,8 Early prediction and intervention in FS is of great importance to reduce neurological sequelae in affected children. Therefore, this study was undertaken to compare the levels of serum IL-6 levels in children with FSs and febrile controls (FCs).…”

“…FS commonly occurs in 5 to 14% of children between 6 months and 6 years of age in Asian countries. 1 FS is classified into simple febrile seizures (SFSs) and complex febrile seizures (CFSs) depending on the age, frequency, duration, and type of seizures. 1 SFS accounts for 70 to 75% of FS and CFS occurs in 9 to 35%.…”

The Effect of the Ketogenic Diet on Adiponectin, Omentin and Vaspin in Children with Drug-Resistant Epilepsy

“…Human studies revealed that serum adiponectin levels are significantly lower in patients with epilepsy than among healthy controls [ 70 , 71 ]. Interestingly, serum/plasma adiponectin levels are elevated in children with febrile seizures and in adults 24 h after a seizure episode [ 72 , 73 ]. These findings suggest that elevated adiponectin at least partially released during primary or secondary generalized tonic-clonic seizures from skeletal muscle may play an anti-inflammatory role, thereby reducing brain damage caused by seizures.…”