Efficacy of zinc sulfate supplement on febrile seizure recurrence prevention in children with normal serum zinc level: A randomised clinical trial

Dietary zinc supplements: beneficial health effects and application in food, medicine and animals

Zinc, a crucial trace element is vital for the growth and development of humans. It is frequently described as 'the flower of life' and 'the source of intelligence'. Zinc supplements play a pivotal role in addressing zinc deficiency by serving as a vital source of this essential micronutrients, effectively replenishing depleted zinc levels in the body. In this paper, we first described the biological behavior of zinc in the human body and briefly described the physiological phenomena associated with zinc levels. The benefits and drawbacks of various zinc supplement forms are then discussed, with emphasis on the most recent zinc supplement formulations. Finally, the application of zinc supplements in food, medicine, and animal husbandry is further summarized. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.

The Role of Zinc in Developed Countries in Pediatric Patients: A 360-Degree View

Zinc is an important trace element for growth and health at pediatric ages. Zinc is fundamental in inflammatory pathways, oxidative balance, and immune function. Zinc exhibits anti-inflammatory properties by modulating Nuclear Factor-kappa (NF-κB) activity and reducing histamine release from basophils, leukocytes, and mast cells. Furthermore, its antioxidant activity protects against oxidative damage and chronic diseases. Finally, zinc improves the ability to trigger effective immune responses against pathogens by contributing to the maturation of lymphocytes, the production of cytokines, and the regulation of apoptosis. Given these properties, zinc can be considered an adjunctive therapy in treating and preventing respiratory, nephrological, and gastrointestinal diseases, both acute and chronic. This review aims to deepen the role and metabolism of zinc, focusing on the role of supplementation in developed countries in pediatric diseases.

The long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes of febrile seizures and underlying mechanisms

Febrile seizures (FSs) are convulsions caused by a sudden increase in body temperature during a fever. FSs are one of the commonest presentations in young children, occurring in up to 4% of children between the ages of about 6 months and 5 years old. FSs not only endanger children's health, cause panic and anxiety to families, but also have many adverse consequences. Both clinical and animal studies show that FSs have detrimental effects on neurodevelopment, that cause attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), increased susceptibility to epilepsy, hippocampal sclerosis and cognitive decline during adulthood. However, the mechanisms of FSs in developmental abnormalities and disease occurrence during adulthood have not been determined. This article provides an overview of the association of FSs with neurodevelopmental outcomes, outlining both the underlying mechanisms and the possible appropriate clinical biomarkers, from histological changes to cellular molecular mechanisms. The hippocampus is the brain region most significantly altered after FSs, but the motor cortex and subcortical white matter may also be involved in the development disorders induced by FSs. The occurrence of multiple diseases after FSs may share common mechanisms, and the long-term role of inflammation and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) system are currently well studied.

Adverse Effects of Excessive Zinc Intake in Infants and Children Aged 0-3 Years: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Zinc supplementation reduces morbidity, but evidence suggests that excessive intakes can have negative health consequences. Current guidelines of upper limits (ULs) of zinc intake for young children are extrapolated from adult data. This systematic review (PROSPERO; registration no. CRD42020215187) aimed to determine the levels of zinc intake at which adverse effects are observed in young children. Studies reporting potential adverse effects of zinc intake in children aged 0-3 y were identified (from inception to August 2020) in MEDLINE, Embase, and the Cochrane Library, with no limits on study design. Adverse clinical and physical effects of zinc intake were synthesized narratively, and meta-analyses of biochemical outcomes were conducted. Random effects models were used to generate forest plots to examine the evidence by age category, dose, dose duration, chemical formula of zinc, and zinc compared with placebo. The Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist, Cochrane Risk of Bias 2, and Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) guideline were employed to assess risk of bias and to appraise the certainty of evidence. Fifty-eight studies assessed possible adverse effects of zinc doses ranging from 3 to 70 mg/d. Data from 39 studies contributed to meta-analyses. Zinc supplementation had an adverse effect on serum ferritin, plasma/serum copper concentration, serum transferrin receptor, hemoglobin, hematocrit, and the odds of anemia in ≥1 of the subgroups investigated. Lactulose:mannitol ratio was improved with zinc supplementation, and no significant effect was observed on C-reactive protein, erythrocyte superoxide dismutase, zinc protoporphyrin, blood cholesterol, and iron deficiency anemia. The certainty of the evidence, as assessed using GRADE, was very low to moderate. Although possible adverse effects of zinc supplementation were observed in some subgroups, it is unclear whether these findings are clinically important. The synthesized data can be used to undertake a dose-response analysis to update current guidelines of ULs of zinc intake for young children.

Effectiveness of prophylactic iron supplementation in the reduction of recurrence of febrile seizures in children: A prospective study with comparison with historical controls

Objectives

The primary objective of the study was to compare the number of patients with febrile seizure recurrence within 1 year of presenting to our institute, among patients who received and didn't receive oral iron supplementation.

Materials and Methods

This prospective intervention study with historical controls was conducted to compare the number of patients with febrile seizure recurrence within 1 year, among patients who received and did not receive oral iron supplementation. The intervention group additionally received prophylactic iron supplementation of 20 mg biweekly for 1 year.

Results

A total of 53 patients each were enrolled in both the groups, with comparable baseline characteristics. Although there was a trend toward a lower rate of recurrence of febrile seizures in the interventional group, as compared to the control group, it did not reach the point of statistical significance (P = 0.35). Both in the worst-case scenario and best-case scenario, there was a trend toward less risk of recurrence of febrile seizure in the intervention group, but it did not reach the point of statistical significance (P = 0.43 and 0.52). For the original scenario, worst-case scenario, and best-case scenario, the absolute risk reduction was 6.5%, 7%, and 6%, respectively, with corresponding number needed to treat (NNT) being 15, 14, and 16, respectively. The trend for absolute risk reduction was more pronounced in those with complex febrile seizures with an NNT of 6.5, but it still did not reach the point of statistical significance (P = 0.16). Moderate/severe IDA was also found to be an independent risk factor for recurrence of febrile seizure in the intervention group (P = 0.03).

Conclusion

Oral serum iron supplementation does not significantly reduce the recurrence rate of febrile seizures in children aged 6-60 months. However, there is a trend toward reduction in the frequency of recurrence of febrile seizures, which is more pronounced in the subset with complex febrile seizures.

Febrile seizures: A review

Febrile seizures are common, occurring in up to 5% of children in the United States. Frequently perceived by caregivers as a life-threatening event, febrile seizures are a common cause of emergency department visits. The concern for permanent neurologic sequelae and future epilepsy after febrile seizures has resulted in a significant amount of research on these topics. The development of childhood vaccines over the past several decades has led to a significant reduction in childhood bacterial meningitis. This in turn has led to a dramatic change in the evaluation and treatment of febrile seizures. In this review, the different types of febrile seizures as well as the evaluation and prognosis of each are discussed.

Prophylactic drug management for febrile seizures in children

BACKGROUND

Febrile seizures occurring in a child older than one month during an episode of fever affect 2-4% of children in Great Britain and the United States and recur in 30%. Rapid-acting antiepileptics and antipyretics given during subsequent fever episodes have been used to avoid the adverse effects of continuous antiepileptic drugs. This is an updated version of a Cochrane Review previously published in 2017.

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate primarily the effectiveness and safety of antiepileptic and antipyretic drugs used prophylactically to treat children with febrile seizures; and also to evaluate any other drug intervention where there is a sound biological rationale for its use.

SEARCH METHODS

For the latest update we searched the following databases on 3 February 2020: Cochrane Register of Studies (CRS Web), MEDLINE (Ovid, 1946 to 31 January 2020). CRS Web includes randomised or quasi-randomised controlled trials from PubMed, Embase, ClinicalTrials.gov, the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), and the specialised registers of Cochrane Review Groups including the Cochrane Epilepsy Group. We imposed no language restrictions and contacted researchers to identify continuing or unpublished studies.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Trials using randomised or quasi-randomised participant allocation that compared the use of antiepileptics, antipyretics or recognised Central Nervous System active agents with each other, placebo, or no treatment.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

For the original review, two review authors independently applied predefined criteria to select trials for inclusion and extracted the predefined relevant data, recording methods for randomisation, blinding, and exclusions. For the 2016 update, a third review author checked all original inclusions, data analyses, and updated the search. For the 2020 update, one review author updated the search and performed the data analysis following a peer-review process with the original review authors. We assessed seizure recurrence at 6, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48 months, and where data were available at age 5 to 6 years along with recorded adverse effects. We evaluated the presence of publication bias using funnel plots.

MAIN RESULTS

We included 42 articles describing 32 randomised trials, with 4431 randomised participants used in the analysis of this review. We analysed 15 interventions of continuous or intermittent prophylaxis and their control treatments. Methodological quality was moderate to poor in most studies. We found no significant benefit for intermittent phenobarbital, phenytoin, valproate, pyridoxine, ibuprofen, or zinc sulfate versus placebo or no treatment; nor for diclofenac versus placebo followed by ibuprofen, paracetamol, or placebo; nor for continuous phenobarbital versus diazepam, intermittent rectal diazepam versus intermittent valproate, or oral diazepam versus clobazam. There was a significant reduction of recurrent febrile seizures with intermittent diazepam versus placebo or no treatment at six months (risk ratio (RR) 0.64, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.48 to 0.85; 6 studies, 1151 participants; moderate-certainty evidence), 12 months (RR 0.69, 95% CI 0.56 to 0.84; 8 studies, 1416 participants; moderate-certainty evidence), 18 months (RR 0.37, 95% CI 0.23 to 0.60; 1 study, 289 participants; low-certainty evidence), 24 months (RR 0.73, 95% CI 0.56 to 0.95; 4 studies, 739 participants; high-certainty evidence), 36 months (RR 0.58, 95% CI 0.40 to 0.85; 1 study, 139 participants; low-certainty evidence), 48 months (RR 0.36, 95% CI 0.15 to 0.89; 1 study, 110 participants; moderate-certainty evidence), with no benefit at 60 to 72 months (RR 0.08, 95% CI 0.00 to 1.31; 1 study, 60 participants; very low-certainty evidence). Phenobarbital versus placebo or no treatment reduced seizures at six months (RR 0.59, 95% CI 0.42 to 0.83; 6 studies, 833 participants; moderate-certainty evidence), 12 months (RR 0.54, 95% CI 0.42 to 0.70; 7 studies, 807 participants; low-certainty evidence), and 24 months (RR 0.69, 95% CI 0.53 to 0.89; 3 studies, 533 participants; moderate-certainty evidence), but not at 18 months (RR 0.77, 95% CI 0.56 to 1.05; 2 studies, 264 participants) or 60 to 72 months follow-up (RR 1.50, 95% CI 0.61 to 3.69; 1 study, 60 participants; very low-certainty evidence). Intermittent clobazam compared to placebo at six months resulted in a RR of 0.36 (95% CI 0.20 to 0.64; 1 study, 60 participants; low-certainty evidence), an effect found against an extremely high (83.3%) recurrence rate in the controls, a result that needs replication. When compared to intermittent diazepam, intermittent oral melatonin did not significantly reduce seizures at six months (RR 0.45, 95% CI 0.18 to 1.15; 1 study, 60 participants; very-low certainty evidence). When compared to placebo, intermittent oral levetiracetam significantly reduced recurrent seizures at 12 months (RR 0.27, 95% CI 0.15 to 0.52; 1 study, 115 participants; very low-certainty evidence). The recording of adverse effects was variable. Two studies reported lower comprehension scores in phenobarbital-treated children. Adverse effects were recorded in up to 30% of children in the phenobarbital-treated groups and 36% in benzodiazepine-treated groups. We found evidence of publication bias in the meta-analyses of comparisons for phenobarbital versus placebo (seven studies) at 12 months but not at six months (six studies); and valproate versus placebo (four studies) at 12 months. There were too few studies to identify publication bias for the other comparisons. The methodological quality of most of the included studies was low or very low. Methods of randomisation and allocation concealment often did not meet current standards, and 'treatment versus no treatment' was more commonly seen than 'treatment versus placebo', leading to obvious risks of bias.  AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: We found reduced recurrence rates for intermittent diazepam and continuous phenobarbital, with adverse effects in up to 30% of children. The apparent benefit for clobazam treatment in one trial needs to be replicated. Levetiracetam also shows benefit with a good safety profile; however, further study is required. Given the benign nature of recurrent febrile seizures, and the high prevalence of adverse effects of these drugs, parents and families should be supported with adequate contact details of medical services and information on recurrence, first aid management, and, most importantly, the benign nature of the phenomenon.

Altered Adhesion and Migration of Human Mesenchymal Stromal Cells under Febrile Temperature Stress Involves NF-κβ Pathway

Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are clinically beneficial for regenerative treatment of chronic inflammation and autoimmune disorders. However, to attain maximum efficacy from the transplanted MSCs, evaluation of its interaction with the microenvironment, becomes critical. Fever being an important hallmark of inflammation, we investigated the effect of febrile temperature stress on adhesion and migration of umbilical cord-derived MSCs. 40 °C-exposure altered cellular morphology with significant cell flattening, delayed cell-matrix de-adhesion response and slower migration of MSCs, accompanied by suppressed directionality ratio and cell trajectory. Corresponding to the observed changes, mRNA expression of extracellular matrix genes like COLs and VTN were upregulated, while matrix metalloproteinase MMP-1, showed a significant downregulation. NF-κβ pathway inhibition at 40 °C, led to reversal of gene expression pattern, cell spreading, de-adhesion dynamics and migration rate. Independent knockdown of p65 and p53 at 40 °C indicated inhibitory role of p65/p53/p21 axis in regulation of MMP-1 expression. P21 inhibits JNK activity, and JNK pathway inhibition at 40 °C resulted in further downregulation of MMP-1. Hence, our study provides the first evidence of cell migration getting adversely affected in MSCs under elevated temperature stress due to an inverse relationship between p65/p53/p21 and MMP1 with a possible involvement of the JNK pathway.

Prophylactic drug management for febrile seizures in children

BACKGROUND

Febrile seizures occurring in a child older than one month during an episode of fever affect 2% to 4% of children in Great Britain and the United States and recur in 30%. Rapid-acting antiepileptics and antipyretics given during subsequent fever episodes have been used to avoid the adverse effects of continuous antiepileptic drugs.

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate primarily the effectiveness and safety of antiepileptic and antipyretic drugs used prophylactically to treat children with febrile seizures; but also to evaluate any other drug intervention where there was a sound biological rationale for its use.

SEARCH METHODS

We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library 2016, Issue 7); MEDLINE (1966 to July 2016); Embase (1966 to July 2016); Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness (DARE) (July 2016). We imposed no language restrictions. We also contacted researchers in the field to identify continuing or unpublished studies.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Trials using randomised or quasi-randomised participant allocation that compared the use of antiepileptic, antipyretic or other plausible agents with each other, placebo or no treatment.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Two review authors (RN and MO) independently applied predefined criteria to select trials for inclusion and extracted the predefined relevant data, recording methods for randomisation, blinding and exclusions. For the 2016 update a third author (MC) checked all original inclusions, data analyses, and updated the search. Outcomes assessed were seizure recurrence at 6, 12, 18, 24, 36, and 48 months and at age 5 to 6 years in the intervention and non-intervention groups, and adverse medication effects. We assessed the presence of publication bias using funnel plots.

MAIN RESULTS

We included 40 articles describing 30 randomised trials with 4256 randomised participants. We analysed 13 interventions of continuous or intermittent prophylaxis and their control treatments. Methodological quality was moderate to poor in most studies. We found no significant benefit for intermittent phenobarbitone, phenytoin, valproate, pyridoxine, ibuprofen or zinc sulfate versus placebo or no treatment; nor for diclofenac versus placebo followed by ibuprofen, acetaminophen or placebo; nor for continuous phenobarbitone versus diazepam, intermittent rectal diazepam versus intermittent valproate, or oral diazepam versus clobazam.There was a significant reduction of recurrent febrile seizures with intermittent diazepam versus placebo or no treatment, with a risk ratio (RR) of  0.64 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.48 to 0.85 at six months), RR of 0.69 (95% CI 0.56 to 0.84) at 12 months, RR 0.37 (95% CI 0.23 to 0.60) at 18 months, RR 0.73 (95% CI 0.56 to 0.95) at 24 months, RR 0.58 (95% CI 0.40 to 0.85) at 36 months, RR 0.36 (95% CI 0.15 to 0.89) at 48 months, with no benefit at 60 to 72 months. Phenobarbitone versus placebo or no treatment reduced seizures at 6, 12 and 24 months but not at 18 or 72 month follow-up (RR 0.59 (95% CI 0.42 to 0.83) at 6 months; RR 0.54 (95% CI 0.42 to 0.70) at 12 months; and RR 0.69 (95% CI 0.53 to 0.89) at 24 months). Intermittent clobazam compared to placebo at six months resulted in a RR of 0.36 (95% CI 0.20 to 0.64), an effect found against an extremely high (83.3%) recurrence rate in the controls, which is a result that needs replication.The recording of adverse effects was variable. Lower comprehension scores in phenobarbitone-treated children were found in two studies. In general, adverse effects were recorded in up to 30% of children in the phenobarbitone-treated group and in up to 36% in benzodiazepine-treated groups. We found evidence of publication bias in the meta-analyses of comparisons for phenobarbitone versus placebo (eight studies) at 12 months but not at six months (six studies); and valproate versus placebo (four studies) at 12 months, with too few studies to identify publication bias for the other comparisons.Most of the reviewed antiepileptic drug trials are of a methodological quality graded as low or very low. Methods of randomisation and allocation concealment often do not meet current standards; and treatment versus no treatment is more commonly seen than treatment versus placebo, leading to obvious risks of bias. Trials of antipyretics and zinc were of higher quality.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

We found reduced recurrence rates for children with febrile seizures for intermittent diazepam and continuous phenobarbitone, with adverse effects in up to 30%. Apparent benefit for clobazam treatment in one trial needs to be replicated to be judged reliable. Given the benign nature of recurrent febrile seizures, and the high prevalence of adverse effects of these drugs, parents and families should be supported with adequate contact details of medical services and information on recurrence, first aid management and, most importantly, the benign nature of the phenomenon.