Elevated serum S-100B levels in children with temporal lobe epilepsy

PURPOSE An elevated level of S-100B in serum is generally considered to be a biochemical marker of nervous tissue damage. According to our knowledge, no studies have evaluated the serum S-100B protein concentration in children with temporal lobe epilepsy. The objective of this study was to measure the serum levels of S-100B protein in pediatric cases with temporal epilepsy. METHODS This case-controlled cross-sectional study was performed at the Department of Pediatric Neurology, Harran University School of Medicine, Sanliurfa, in Turkey. Serum S-100B protein levels were studied in 19 (12 females, 7 males) children with temporal lobe epilepsy and in 25 (15 females, 10 males) healthy control subjects. Serum samples were collected within 30min after a complex partial seizure, and serum S-100B protein levels were measured with an electrochemiluminescence immunoassay for the quantification of protein (ECLIA kit, Roche(®) Diagnostics, Germany). RESULTS The mean serum concentration of S-100B protein was 0.12±0.02μg/L in the temporal lobe epilepsy group and 0.07±0.01μg/L in the control group. The patients showed significantly elevated S-100B protein levels compared with healthy controls (P<0.001). CONCLUSION Our data suggest that increased S-100B protein levels in the serum might reflect neuronal damage in the brains of children with temporal lobe epilepsy. These results do confirm the previous findings of elevated S-100B protein levels in adult patients with temporal lobe epilepsy.