Dev Med Child Neurol 2009 Aug;

Authors: Markus Rauchenzauner, Andrea Griesmacher, Tobias Tatarczyk, Edda Haberlandt, Alexander Strasak, Lothar-Bernd Zimmerhackl, Gerda Falkensammer, Gerhard Luef, Wolfgang Högler

Department of Paediatrics IV, Division of Neuropaediatrics, Medical University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.

Aim The aim of this study was to determine the influence of chronic monotherapy with antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) on vitamin D levels, bone metabolism, and body composition. Method Eighty-five children (38 males, 47 females; mean age 12y 5mo, SD 3y 4mo) were treated with valproate and 40 children (28 males, 12 females; mean age 11y 10mo, SD 3y) were treated with other AEDs (lamotrigine, sulthiame, or oxcarbazepine), comprising the non-valproate group. Forty-one healthy children (29 males 12 females; mean age 12y 1mo, SD 3y 5mo) served as a comparison group. Height, weight, body impedance analysis, 25-hydroxyvitamin D, calcium, phosphate, two bone resorption markers (receptor activator of nuclear factor kappaB ligand [RANKL] and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase 5b [TRAP5b]), osteoprotegerin, and leptin were measured. Results No child was vitamin D deficient as defined by a 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) level of less than 25nmol/l (<10ng/ml). Leptin, body fat, weight standard deviation score (SDS), and body mass index (BMI) SDS were all significantly higher (each p<0.001) in valproate-treated children than in the non-valproate group, as were calcium (p=0.027) and RANKL (p=0.007) concentrations. Similarly, leptin was significantly higher in the valproate group than in control participants (p<0.001), as were body fat (p=0.023), weight SDS (p=0.046), BMI SDS (p=0.047), calcium (p<0.001), and RANKL (p<0.001), whereas TRAP5b concentrations were significantly lower in the valproate-treated group (p=0.002). Furthermore, calcium and RANKL levels were significantly higher in the non-valproate group than in comparison participants (p<0.001 and p=0.016 respectively). Interpretation Non-enzyme-inducing or minimal enzyme-inducing AED monotherapy does not cause vitamin D deficiency in otherwise healthy children with epilepsy. Valproate therapy is associated with increases in weight, body fat, and leptin concentration, as well as with a bone metabolic profile that resembles slightly increased parathyroid hormone action.

PMID: 19709134 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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