Lack of association between an interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β) gene variation and refractory temporal lobe epilepsy

Purpose: We attempted to confirm recent findings of Kanemoto et al. that demonstrated a positive association (p < 0.017) between a polymorphism in the promoter region of the interleukin 1-<beta> (IL-1 beta) gene and the clinical phenotype of temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis (TLE+HS). Methods: We determined the frequency of this polymorphism in a group of 61 TLE+HS patients of European ancestry and compared it with that found in 119 ethnically matched control subjects. Results: Analysis of genotype and allele frequencies showed no statistically significant difference in the distribution of the polymorphism between the two groups (p = 0.10). Conclusions: These data suggest that this IL-1 beta promoter polymorphism does not act as a strong susceptibility factor for TLE+HS in a population of individuals of European ancestry.