Plasma high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in epileptics treated with various anticonvulsants

Plasma high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol in 97 epileptics on long-term anticonvulsant therapy was investigated. Therapy with phenytoin alone or in combination with carbamazepine or phenobarbital was associated with elevated plasma HDL cholesterol levels as compared with controls. HDL cholesterol in patients treated with carbamazepine did not diverge from control values. Patients treated with phenytoin and phenobarbital in combination showed higher HDL cholesterol levels than those treated with phenytoin alone. There was an inverse correlation between the HDL cholesterol and serum triglyceride levels. The results demonstrate that high plasma HDL cholesterol might be associated with therapy involving some anticonvulsants known to be potent enzyme inducers. This suggests that the elevation of HDL cholesterol during therapy is probably related to the drug-caused enzyme induction phenomenon.