Abstract

Epilepsy is a serious childhood disease associated with cognitive impairment. Our aim was to investigate the possible association of serum folic acid, vitamin B12, and intelligence scores in epileptic children. A group of 30 children with established diagnosis of idiopathic epilepsy for at least one year as well as another group of 30 nonepileptic healthy children as the control group were recruited for analysis. Cognitive performance was assessed by a battery of psychological tests that covers verbal and nonverbal intelligence. Serum B12 level was significantly lower in patients than the control group (264.17 ± 58.07, 450.55 ± 134.9, respectively). No significant difference was detected between patients and the control group regarding serum folic acid level. Verbal, performance, and total IQ were significantly lower in patients than the control group (83.2 ± 3.08 vs. 95.8 ± 6.22, 78.4 ± 10.68 vs. 91.3 ± 2.45, and 180.6 ± 6.58 vs. 93.5 ± 3.02, respectively). However, no significant correlation was detected in folic acid, vitamin B 12, and cognitive scores. Epileptic children were five times more at risk of having low IQ (verbal, performance, and total) < 85 than the control group (OR = 4.754, 95% CI 13.047–1031.316, p = .000). In conclusion, children with epilepsy might be at higher risk for cognitive dysfunction than normal children. No significant association was detected between cognitive performance and either folic acid or vitamin B12 in epileptic children receiving sodium valproate. Supplementation of those vitamins should be restricted to those with documented deficiency.

摘要

癫痫是一种与认知障碍相关的严重儿童疾病。我们的目的是调查血清叶酸、维生素 B12 和癫痫儿童智力评分之间可能存在的关联。招募一组30名确诊为特发性癫痫至少一年的儿童以及另一组30名非癫痫健康儿童作为对照组进行分析。认知表现是通过一系列涵盖语言和非语言智力的心理测试来评估的。患者血清 B12 水平显着低于对照组（分别为 264.17 ± 58.07、450.55 ± 134.9）。患者血清叶酸水平与对照组无显着差异。语言、表演、患者的总智商和总智商显着低于对照组（分别为 83.2 ± 3.08 vs. 95.8 ± 6.22、78.4 ± 10.68 vs. 91.3 ± 2.45 和 180.6 ± 6.58 vs. 93.5 ± 3.02）。然而，在叶酸、维生素 B 12 和认知评分中未检测到显着相关性。癫痫儿童出现低智商（言语、表现和总智商）<85 的风险是对照组的五倍（OR = 4.754, 95% CI 13.047–1031.316,p  = .000）。总之，与正常儿童相比，患有癫痫症的儿童发生认知功能障碍的风险可能更高。在接受丙戊酸钠治疗的癫痫儿童中，认知表现与叶酸或维生素 B12 之间未检测到显着关联。这些维生素的补充应仅限于那些有证据证明缺乏的人。