Carnitine deficiency in epileptic children treated with a diversity of anti-epileptic regimens

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Sherine El Mously1, Hadeer Abdel Ghaffar1, Remon Magdy1

  • 1Faculty of Medicine, Fayoum University, Fayoum City, 63611 Egypt.

The Egyptian Journal of Neurology, Psychiatry and Neurosurgery
|December 15, 2018
PubMed

Insights

Carnitine deficiency is common in children with epilepsy. Using valproate with other antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) is the primary risk factor identified in this study.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Neurology
  • Clinical Chemistry

Background:

  • Carnitine deficiency is prevalent in epileptic patients.
  • Risk factors include polytherapy with antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), young age, and neurological impairments.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate carnitine deficiency levels and associated risk factors in children with idiopathic epilepsy on various AEDs.

Main Methods:

  • Serum carnitine levels were measured using enzyme-linked immune sorbent assay (ELISA).
  • Fifty children with idiopathic epilepsy and 40 age-matched controls were included.

Main Results:

  • Epileptic children exhibited lower mean carnitine levels than controls (p=0.04).
  • Patients on valproate combined with other AEDs showed significantly lower carnitine levels (p=0.03).
  • Monotherapy also correlated with a high percentage of carnitine deficiency (p=0.04).

Conclusions:

  • Carnitine deficiency is a common issue in the studied pediatric epilepsy population.
  • Concurrent use of valproate and other AEDs is the most significant risk factor for carnitine deficiency in epileptic children.
Abstract

Keywords:
AEDsCarnitineEpilepsy

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