[Effect of phenytoin and carbamazepine treatment on nonspecific immunological reactivity in epilepsy].

Immunological investigations were carried out assessing the humoral and cell-mediated immunity in 22 patients with epilepsy before starting treatment and at least one year after the onset of treatment with phenytoin or carbamazepine. Sixteen patients were treated with phenytoin and 6 with carbamazepine. In the group treated with phenytoin a statistically significant fall was observed in the serum level of IgG and a decrease in the value of blastic transformation of lymphocytes after stimulation with PHA and PPD with a rise in the number of lymphocytes forming total rosettes with sheep erythrocytes. In the group treated with carbamazepine only a statistically significant fall was observed in blastic transformation of lymphocytes stimulated with PHA, and a trend was noticed for increasing serum IgG and IgM levels. The observed changes in immunological reactivity caused by administration of phenytoin and carbamazepine show that these drugs exert an immunomodulating effect, but changes produced by them are slight and caused no immune deficit in the observed group.