Evaluating Interleukin 1β in febrile convulsion

Febrile convulsion (F.C) is the most common type of seizure in childhood that occurs in 2-5 % of the children younger than 6 years. Interleukin 1β (IL-1β) is a cytokine that contributes in febrile inflammatory responses. There are conflicting results about increasing this cytokine in serum during F.C. Thus we measured it in febrile children with or without seizure.60 febrile children (6 Months to 5 Years old) were divided in two groups, each group only included the children with (F.C) or without (control) seizure. Blood samples were collected and serum samples were prepared. Then with a commercial Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit, the Interleukin 1β concentration was detected.We found that there was a difference in serum level of Interleukin 1β between F.C and control group but it was not significant (p=0.08). It was maybe because of the low number of samples or the result of Interleukin 1β binding to some large proteins such as α2-macroglobolin, complement and soluble type 2 Interleukin 1 receptor, that affected the free Interleukin 1β concentration.we did not find a significant relation between serum Interleukin 1β concentration and F.C.