Non-Dose-Dependent Changes in Liver Enzyme Levels of Children With Epilepsy on Treatment With Sodium Valproate

Transcranial photobiomodulation add-on therapy to valproic acid for pentylenetetrazole-induced seizures in peripubertal rats

Background

Convulsive status epilepticus (CSE) prevention is critical for pediatric patients with epilepsy. Immediate intervention before CSE reduce severity. Despite its wide usage as an anticonvulsant, valproic acid (VPA) results in harmful side effects such as dose-dependent hepatotoxicity. Hence, reducing VPA dosage to minimize side effects while maintaining its efficacy is necessary, and transcranial photobiomodulation (tPBM) add-on therapy could facilitate this. We recently demonstrated for the first time that tPBM at a wavelength of 808 nm attenuated CSE in peripubertal rats. However, the effects of VPA with the add-on therapy of tPBM prior to seizures have not yet been explored. This study investigated whether adding tPBM to VPA exerts synergistic effect for CSE prevention in peripubertal rats.

Methods

A gallium-aluminum-arsenide laser (wavelength of 808 nm with an exposure duration of 100 s and irradiance of 1.333 W/cm² at the target) was applied transcranially 30 min after VPA injection in Sprague Dawley rats. All the rats received 90 mg/kg of pentylenetetrazole (PTZ). Except for the saline (n = 3), tPBM + saline (n = 3), and PTZ group (n = 6), all the rats received a PTZ injection 30 min after VPA injection. The rats received add-on tPBM with PTZ immediately after tPBM. In the VPA + PTZ group, the rats received low-dose (100 mg/kg, n = 6), medium-dose (200 mg/kg, n = 6), and high-dose (400 mg/kg, n = 7) VPA. In the VPA + tPBM + PTZ group, the rats received low (100 mg/kg, n = 5), medium (200 mg/kg, n = 6), and high (400 mg/kg, n = 3) doses of VPA. Seizures were evaluated according to the revised Racine’s scale in a non-blinded manner.

Results

Adding tPBM to low-dose VPA reduced the incidence of severe status epilepticus and significantly delayed the latency to stage 2 seizures. However, adding tPBM to high-dose VPA increased the maximum seizure stage, prolonged the duration of stage 4–7 seizures, and shortened the latency to stage 6 seizures.

Conclusions

Adding tPBM to low-dose VPA exerted a synergistic prevention effect on PTZ-induced seizures, whereas adding tPBM to high-dose VPA offset the attenuation effect.

Correlation between Level of Serum Transaminases and Duration of Antiepileptic Drugs in Epilepsy Children in Sanglah Hospital

BACKGROUND: Some antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), particularly sodium valproate, phenytoin, phenobarbital, and carbamazepine induce and increase production of hepatic enzymes. The adverse metabolic effects of AEDs treatments have become main concern, however data about evaluation of serum transaminases and duration of AEDs in Indonesia still limited. AIM: The aim of the study was to investigate correlation of AEDs and serum transaminases in children with epilepsy. METHODS: This cross-sectional research was conducted in pediatric neurology outpatient clinic in Sanglah Hospital. The target was children with epilepsy who had taken AEDs for at least 6 months. Data were collected from January 2020 to the number of samples were achieved. The exclusion criteria were concomitant liver disease, taking drugs which induce elevated serum transaminase or alcohol abuse. Data including age, gender, nutritional status, type, and duration of AEDs were obtained from medical record. Correlation was analyzed by Pearson’s or Spearman’s correlation, p < 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: Total 148 epileptic children enrolled in this study. Aspartate transaminase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level were highest in the group receiving combination therapy (34.37 ± 24.9 U/L and 35.96 ± 23.3 U/L). There was a significant negative correlation between duration of carbamazepine and AST (r = –0.723, p = 0.0001) and ALT (r = –0.457, p = 0.009), as well as duration of valproic acid with AST and ALT (r = –0.689 and –0.677, p = 0.0001). Duration of phenobarbital administration was positively correlated with AST and ALT (r = 0.546 and 0.425, p = 0.0001). Combination therapy also had positive correlation with AST and ALT (r = 0.815 and 0.781, p = 0.0001, respectively). CONCLUSION: Duration administration of carbamazepine and valproic acid had negative correlation with AST and ALT; however, phenobarbital and combination therapy were positively correlated with AST and ALT.

Influence of Different Antiepileptic Drugs on Blood Ammonia and Homocysteine Levels in Children with Epilepsy

In this study, we performed a study on 106 children with epilepsy who were treated with sodium valproate (the VPA group, n = 37), oxcarbazepine (the OXC group, n = 34), or levetiracetam (the LEV group, n = 35). In addition, the clinical data of epileptic children who were newly diagnosed in the same period without antiepileptic drug (AED) treatment (the untreated group, n = 35) and normal children who received physical examination in our hospital (the healthy group, n = 35) were selected as controls. We analyzed the efficacy and safety of different AEDs, used blood ammonia and homocysteine levels as the observation indicators, and calculated the incidence of hyperammonemia (VAH) and hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) treated with different AEDs. And, based on the effect of epilepsy status on the cognitive function of patients, we also analyzed the effect of different AED treatments on children's cognitive function. Our results show that sodium valproate, oxcarbazepine, and levetiracetam are all effective in the treatment of children with epilepsy and can be used as the first-line choice of antiepileptic treatment for children with epilepsy. However, compared with sodium valproate, levetiracetam and oxcarbazepine have a lower incidence of adverse drug reactions and do not cause an increase in blood ammonia and Hcy levels, so they have higher safety of drug treatment. In addition, compared with sodium valproate, levetiracetam and oxcarbazepine have better recovery of cognitive function in children with epilepsy and so they have better application value.