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Updated: Mar 25, 2026

A Model for Epilepsy of Infectious Etiology using Theiler's Murine Encephalomyelitis Virus
Published on: June 23, 2022
Association between human cytomegalovirus and onset of epilepsy
Hong-Yan Lei1, Dai-Qun Yang1, Yu-Xin Li1
1Department of Emergency Medicine, Linyi People's Hospital of Shandong Province Linyi 276002, P. R. China.
Objective:
To explore the association between human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) and epilepsy.
Methods:
Epilepsy patients (n = 112) in neurology clinic of our hospital during January 2012 and December 2014 were allocated to the case groups, including intractable epilepsy group (n = 96) and non-intractable epilepsy group (n = 16). Healthy individual (n = 120) who received physical examination during the same period were allocated to the control group. The expression of serum HCMV late gene pp67-RNA was detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The expressions of serum HCMV immunoglobulin G (IgG), immunoglobulin M (IgM) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Serum hypersensitive c-reactive protein (hs-CRP) was detected by latex-enhanced immunoturbidimetry. The electroencephalogram (EEG) of refractory epilepsy group, non-refractory epilepsy group and control group were recorded.
Results:
The expression of pp67-mRNA was significantly higher in intractable epilepsy group than non-intractable epilepsy group (P < 0.05) and control group (P < 0.001). The HCMV-IgG positive rate and HCMV-IgM positive rate were significantly higher in intractable epilepsy group than control group (both P < 0.001). The HCMV-IgM positive rate was significantly higher in intractable epilepsy group than non-intractable epilepsy group (P < 0.001). The HCMV-IgM positive rate was significantly higher in non-intractable epilepsy group than control group (P < 0.001). The hs-CRP and IL-6 levels presented descending trends respectively in intractable epilepsy group, non-intractable epilepsy group and control group (all P < 0.001).
Conclusion:
HCMV was prominently expressed in epilepsy and might contribute to the development of epilepsy.
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