The effects of oxcarbazepine treatment on vitamin B12 and folate levels, thyroid functions, sex hormones, and bone mineral density in epileptic patients

• Authors: Sebahattin Vurucu , Mustafa Gulgun , Ediz Yesilkaya , Bulent Unay , Ridvan Akin
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The aim of this study was to evaluate vitamin B12 and folate levels, thyroid functions, sex hormones and bone mineral density in idiopathic epileptic patients taking oxcarbazepine as monotherapy. Newly diagnosed pediatric patients with idiopathic partial epilepsy taking oxcarbazepine (OXC) as monotherapy were enrolled in this study. The pre-treatment and 6 months post-treatment values of vitamin B12, folate, thyroid functions, sex hormones, and bone mineral density (BMD) were obtained from all patients. A total of 32 patients (22 (68.8%) males and 10 (31.2%) females) were included in this study. The mean age was 7.4 ± 3.2 years (range: 2–14 years). There were no significant differences between the pre-treatment and 6 months post-treatment values of vitamin B12, folate, thyroid functions, sex hormones, and BMD. However, the 6 month post-treatment sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) values (159.92 ± 48.14 nmol/L) were significantly higher than the pre-treatment values (137.88 ± 43.12 nmol/L) (p=0.009). We found that OCX treatment in children did not have an effect on serum folate and vitamin B12 levels, thyroid functions, sex hormones and BMD but caused increased SHBG. Over time, the increase in serum SHBG levels may lead to diminished bioactivity of sex steroids, and thus to reduced fertility. The further studies are needed to demonstrate the clinical importance of increased SHBG levels.

Keywords

EN

Epilepsy; Oxcarbazepine; Vitamin B12; Hormones; Bone mineral density

• Publisher: De Gruyter Open
• Journal: Open Medicine
• Year: 2009
• Volume: 4
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 310-314

Dates

published

1 - 9 - 2009

online

3 - 7 - 2009

Contributors

author

Sebahattin Vurucu

• Gulhane Military Medical Academy Department of Pediatric Neurology, 06018, Etlik, Ankara, Turkey

author

Mustafa Gulgun

• Gulhane Military Medical Academy Department of Pediatric Neurology, 06018, Etlik, Ankara, Turkey

author

Ediz Yesilkaya

• Gulhane Military Medical Academy Department of Pediatric Neurology, 06018, Etlik, Ankara, Turkey

author

Bulent Unay

• Gulhane Military Medical Academy Department of Pediatric Neurology, 06018, Etlik, Ankara, Turkey

author

Ridvan Akin

• Gulhane Military Medical Academy Department of Pediatric Neurology, 06018, Etlik, Ankara, Turkey

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Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/s11536-009-0040-7