Serum and muscle carnitine levels in epileptic children receiving sodium valproate.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether children with epilepsy undergoing valproate therapy and who are otherwise healthy have lower levels of serum and muscle carnitine. A total of 50 patients with epilepsy, 3 to 14 years of age, who were treated solely with valproate and free of abnormal neurologic findings or nutritional problems were selected. The control group consisted of 30 healthy children.

Efficacy of hepatitis B vaccination and interferon-alpha-2b combination therapy versus interferon-alpha-2b monotherapy in children with chronic hepatitis B.

Background: Although interferon (IFN) has been approved in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B in children, it is effective only in 30-40% of patients. In some studies it has been suggested that therapeutic use of anti-hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccine may be beneficial in patients with chronic hepatitis B. The aim of the present study was to compare the efficacy of hepatitis B vaccination and IFN-alpha-2b in combination and IFN-alpha-2b monotherapy in children with chronic hepatitis B.

Serum zinc as a factor predicting response to interferon-alpha2b therapy in children with chronic hepatitis B.

Although it has been unclear why more than 50% of children with chronic hepatitis B virus infection do not respond to interferon therapy, in some instances resistance to interferon probably is caused by an inability to stimulate appropriately cellular immune responses to hepatitis B virus. It is known that immune integrity is tightly linked to zinc status. We examined the relationship between serum zinc levels and response to interferon (INF)-alpha therapy in children with chronic hepatitis B.