Predisposition to epilepsy--does the ABCB1 gene play a role?

We performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the association between ABCB1 C3435T polymorphisms and the prevalence of epilepsy, including all relevant human studies (until June 2009), in which patients with or without epilepsy had undergone genotyping for the ABCB1 gene. Odds ratios (ORs) were calculated using a random effects model. We identified 9 case-control studies that included a total of 3,996 patients (2,454 with epilepsy and 1,542 nonepileptic subjects). No association was found between ABCB1 C3435T polymorphisms and the risk of having epilepsy (odds ratio 1.07, 95% confidence interval 0.76-1.51; p = 0.34). ABCB1 genotyping for epileptic patients is not warranted.