Salivary immunoglobulin concentrations in patients with epilepsy treated with carbamazepine

Various anti-epileptic drugs may affect the immune system. An IgA-depressing effect of carbamazepine has been proposed, but only serum concentrations have been studied. IgA constitutes a small fraction of the serum immunoglobulins, while it is the predominating one in external secretions. In the present study the concentrations of IgA, IgG and IgM in unstimulated saliva were determined by single radial immunodiffusion in 34 patients with partial epilepsy, and being treated with carbamazepine alone. Median salivary IgA concentration in the patients was 208 x 10(-3) g/l, compared to 150 x 10(3) g/l in 41 healthy controls. Salivary IgG and IgM concentrations were also somewhat higher in the patients than in the controls, while the albumin concentrations were similar in the two groups. However, the differences in the immunoglobulin concentrations between patients and controls were not significant at a 5% level. There was no significant correlation between the concentrations of IgA in saliva and serum.