Activation of proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory
cytokines network seems to have a role in
febrile seizures (FS). The present meta-analysis was aimed to pool the inconsistent data provided with case-control studies on the relationship of proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory
cytokines and FS/
epilepsy risk. The genotype
interleukin (IL)-1α-889 1/1 (recessive model) was significantly correlated with increased risk of
epilepsy (p=0.008) and FS/
epilepsy (p=0.004). Patients with IL-1β-511 T/T homozygote were more susceptible to develop FS (p=0.036) but not
epilepsy. Furthermore, the T/T genotype was totally associated with increased risk of FS/
epilepsy (p=0.043). Although the recessive model was also confirmed for the Asian subgroup (FS and FS/
epilepsy), we found a protective effect of C/C genotype toward developing FS in the Caucasian race (p=0.020). The second meta-analysis on
cytokine levels showed a statistically higher serum level of
IL-6 in patients with
epilepsy compared to control subjects without
epilepsy. The present meta-analysis showed that two alleles of proinflammatory
cytokines (IL-1α-889 and IL-1β-511) in addition to the serum concentration of
IL-6 were significantly associated with FS and
epilepsy or both in various subgroup analyses.