Evaluation of Immunomodulatory Effects of Antiepileptic Drug Phenytoin

The immunomodulatory effects of phenytoin (phn), used as an antiepileptic agent were investigated in vivo using female balb/c mice. the main aim of this study was to investigate the immunotoxicity of phn. animals were divided into six groups, eight animals per group. group i, served as a control group, received only the vehicle. groups (ii-vi) were received a daily intraperitoneal dose of phn (2.5, 5, 10, 15 and 25 mg/kg, respectively) over a period of 21 days. phn has shown a significant decrease in the animal body weight. the relative weights of animal's spleens were also decreased significantly at doses of (10, 15, and 25 mg/kg). phn showed a significant decrease in the percentage of circulating neutrophils and lymphocytes and an increase in the percentage of circulating eosinophils. the result showed a marked suppression in antibody production capacity as a humoral immune response and a suppression in the delayed type hypersensitivity response as a cell mediated immune response in phn-treated mice compared to the control group. detectable changes have also been noticed in the histology of the footpad tissue and spleen.