Gamma-aminobutyric acid concentration in lumbar cerebrospinal fluid from patients with febrile convulsions and controls.

The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentration of the inhibitory neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) was analysed in 41 children with febrile convulsions (FC), 41 febrile controls of similar age (control group 1), and 59 controls, who had no fever and/or were outside the age range for FC (control group 2). A significant correlation between CSF-GABA and age was demonstrated for controls (1 + 2) (r = 0.63, p less than 0.00001), as well as for patients with FC (r = 0.42, p = 0.003). Patients with FC did not differ significantly from control group 1 in respect to CSF-GABA. Duration of FC was related to both CSF-GABA and age (GABA: r = -0.29, p less than 0.05; age: r = -0.32, p less than 0.05). For 56 controls (1 + 2) greater than 1 year of age, a significant negative correlation between CFC-GABA and body temperature was found (r = -0.34, p = 0.01). The low CSF-GABA in the FC-labile age group, the negative correlation of CSF-GABA to body temperature, and the negative correlation of the duration of FC to both CSF-GABA and age, all indicate that GABA could be of importance in the pathophysiology of FC.