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Serum and urine boron and selenium levels in children with resistant epilepsy

Huseyin Per1, Mehmet Canpolat, Ugur Sahin

  • 1Department of Pediatric Neurology, Erciyes University Medical Faculty, Kayseri, Turkey. huseyinper@yahoo.com

Saudi Medical Journal
|September 12, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Children with resistant epilepsy may benefit from selenium supplementation. This study found altered serum and urine selenium levels, and urine boron levels in these patients, suggesting selenium

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Neurology
  • Clinical Chemistry
  • Nutritional Science

Background:

  • Resistant epilepsy affects a significant portion of pediatric patients.
  • Nutritional deficiencies or imbalances can influence neurological conditions.
  • Selenium and boron are trace elements with potential roles in cellular function.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between serum and urine selenium and boron levels and resistant epilepsy in children.
  • To determine if these trace element levels differ in children with resistant epilepsy compared to controls.

Main Methods:

  • A case-control study involving 53 children diagnosed with resistant epilepsy.
  • Serum and urine samples were analyzed for selenium and boron concentrations.
  • Statistical analysis included Student's t-test and Chi-square test to compare groups.

Main Results:

  • Statistically significant differences were observed in serum selenium, urine selenium, and urine boron levels in children with resistant epilepsy compared to controls (p<0.05).
  • No significant difference was found in serum boron levels between the groups (p>0.05).

Conclusions:

  • Selenium supplementation may be beneficial for children with resistant epilepsy.
  • Boron does not appear to have an etiological role in resistant epilepsy based on this study.
  • Further research is warranted to elucidate the precise role of selenium in epilepsy management.
Abstract

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