Effect of anti-epileptic drugs on serum lipids in epileptic patients- A case-control study

Epilepsy is a chronic illness, thus antiepileptic drugs are often used extensively. However, this treatment may be linked to metabolic abnormalities in different body systems, including the endocrine system, connective tissues, and liver. Moreover, prolonged use of antiepileptic drugs may lead to adverse effects on serum lipid levels. This study was conducted to explore alterations in serum lipids after the administration of antiepileptic drugs in epileptic patients and compared with healthy volunteers. A total of 200 participants were selected; including 100 epileptic patients and 100 age, gender and locality matched controls having negative personal or family history of epilepsy. All the participants signed written informed consent and were interviewed through a standard questionnaire. Blood samples were collected from all participants, for the analysis of serum lipids. The accurate rapid test used to analyze samples of both groups. Significantly increased concentration of total lipids, total cholesterol, triglyceride and VLDL-C were found in epileptic patients as compared to controls and also in male epileptic patients, whereas, reverse was true for HDL-C. Significant variations were found for total cholesterol, HDL-C, LDL, triglycerides and VLDL-C in epileptic patients with age group 36 to 46 years, while, the HDL-C was significantly decreased in age group 15 to 35 years. Antiepileptic drugs, especially Episenta alters the serum lipid contents, but the total cholesterol was significantly altered among the users of antiepileptic drugs.