A comparison of glutamic acid decarboxylase serum autoantibody levels in pediatric intractable and non-intractable epilepsy

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare autoantibodies to glutamic acid decarboxylase serum levels in children suffering from intractable and non-intractable epilepsy at Dr. Soetomo General Hospital Surabaya, Indonesia. Methods: A case–control study was conducted with children suffering from intractable and non-intractable epilepsy from November to December 2018 in the pediatric neurology outpatient clinic. Autoantibodies to glutamic acid decarboxylase serum levels were examined from both groups using ELISA; statistical analysis was performed using the Mann–Whitney U test non-parametric tests. Result: A sample of 80 children was divided into two groups of 40 children each. Their average age was 5.4 years (range of 4 months–17 years). The average anti-epileptic drug treatment duration was 2.3 years (3 months–13 years). Glutamic acid decarboxylase autoantibody levels in the intractable group were higher compared to levels in the non-intractable group, ranging from 140 to 410 ng/ml (median 243.3) and 10–120 ng/ml (median 98.10) respectively with p values < 0.05. Conclusion: Children suffering from intractable epilepsy have higher levels of GAD-Ab compared to children with non-intractable epilepsy.