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Updated: Oct 6, 2025
Lipidomics and Transcriptomics in Neurological Diseases
Published on: March 18, 2022
Serum Levels of Lipids and Selected Aminothiols in Epileptic Children-A Pilot Case-Control Study
Beata Sarecka-Hujar1, Izabela Szołtysek-Bołdys2, Ilona Kopyta3
1Department of Basic Biomedical Science, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences in Sosnowiec, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, 41-200 Sosnowiec, Poland.
Insights
Children with epilepsy on multiple antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) show lower glutathione levels, indicating oxidative stress. This finding suggests potential long-term health risks, including liver and cardiovascular issues.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Pediatric Neurology
- Clinical Chemistry
Background:
- Epilepsy treatment commonly involves antiepileptic drugs (AEDs).
- AEDs and treatment duration can alter biochemical markers like lipids and homocysteine, potentially increasing cardiovascular disease risk.
- Understanding these biochemical changes is crucial for managing long-term health in epileptic children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare lipid parameters and aminothiol concentrations in epileptic children on multiple AEDs versus non-epileptic children.
- To investigate potential biochemical markers associated with AED treatment in pediatric epilepsy.
Main Methods:
- Prospective analysis of 21 epileptic children (≥2 AEDs for ≥6 months) and 23 controls.
- Measurement of serum lipid profiles (TC, TG, LDL, HDL) and aminothiols (homocysteine, cysteine, glutathione).
- Comparison of biochemical parameters between epileptic and control groups, including subgroup analysis by sex.
Main Results:
- No significant differences in lipid parameters or lipid ratios between epileptic children and controls.
- Homocysteine and cysteine levels were comparable between the groups.
- Significantly lower glutathione levels were observed in epileptic children compared to controls (p < 0.001), irrespective of sex.
Conclusions:
- Pediatric patients with epilepsy on multiple AEDs exhibit reduced glutathione levels.
- This reduction suggests oxidative stress in children undergoing AED treatment.
- Long-term oxidative stress may impact liver function and cardiovascular health in these patients.
Background:
Standard treatment of epileptic seizures involves the use of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). Both AEDs themselves and treatment duration may influence the levels of biochemical parameters, e.g., lipids or homocysteine (HCys), that may increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases. The aim of the present study was to compare the levels of lipid parameters, as well as the concentrations of selected aminothiols (i.e., HCys, cysteine, and glutathione) between epileptic children treated with multiple AEDs and children without epilepsy.
Methods:
In the study, 21 children with epilepsy treated with two or more AEDs for at least 6 months (8 girls and 13 boys, mean age 7.03 ± 4.51) and 23 children without epilepsy (7 girls and 16 boys, mean age 7.54 ± 3.90) were prospectively analyzed. Lipid parameters, i.e., total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low density lipoprotein (LDL) and high density lipoprotein (HDL), and levels of selected aminothiols were determined in the blood serum.
Results:
No differences in the mean levels of lipid parameters and in the mean values of lipid ratios (TC/HDL, TG/HDL, LDL/HDL) were observed between the total groups as well as in the sex subgroups. HCys and cysteine levels did not differ between the patients and controls. We observed significantly lower levels of glutathione in children with epilepsy than in children without epilepsy (1.49 ± 0.35 µmol/L vs. 2.39 ± 1.17 µmol/L, respectively) (p < 0.001). Glutathione level was also lower in boys with epilepsy than in boys without epilepsy (p = 0.007). Similarly, epileptic girls had statistically decreased levels of glutathione when compared to girls without epilepsy (p = 0.006).
Conclusions:
A lower level of glutathione is observed in pediatric patients with epilepsy treated with two or more AEDs for at least 6 months. This indicates the oxidative stress of the patients treated with AEDs, which in turn may affect their well-being, and in the case of chronic occurrence resulting from long-term treatment, also on the function of the liver and the condition of the cardiovascular system.
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