Abstract:Objective To investigate the expressions of major vault protein（MVP） and P-glycoprotein（P-gp） in peripheral blood mononuclear cells（PBMCs） of children with epilepsy and compare the effects of levetiracetam and sodium valproate on the expressions of MVP and P-gp protein and cognitive function. Methods A total of 64 children with benign epilepsy treated in Zigong Fourth People's Hospital from January 2017 to December 2020 were randomly divided into observation group and control group（n=32, each）. Oxcarbazepine combined with sodium valproate was given in control group, and oxcarbazepine combined with levetiracetam was used in observation group. After continuous treatment for 6 months in both groups, the relative expression levels of MVP and P-gp protein were detected by Western blotting, and the cognitive function was evaluated by Wechsler intelligence scale for children（WISC）. The clinical effects were compared and analyzed between two groups. Results After 6 months of treatment, there was no statistical difference in total effective rate between two groups, even though it was higher in observation group than that in control group（90.63% vs 75.00%, χ2=2.744, P=0.098）. Compared with those before treatment, the relative expression levels of MVP and P-gp protein in PBMCs decreased significantly after treatment in two groups, and they were lower in observation group than those in control group （P＜0.05）. The scores of intelligence quotient（IQ）, performance IQ（PIQ）,verbal IQ（VIQ） and full-scale IQ（FIQ） increased significantly compared with those before treatment in two groups and were higher in observation group than those in control group （P＜0.05）. There was no serious adverse reaction in both groups. Conclusion MVP and P-gp protein may be involved in the occurrence and development of epilepsy. Levetiracetam can improve cognitive function and play an anti-epileptic role by down-regulating the expressions of MVP and P-gp protein in PBMCs. However, whether the combination therapy of levetiracetam and oxcarbazepine can increase the antiepileptic effect remains to be observed by expanding the sample size.