The Effect of Levetiracetam Therapy on Lipid Profile in Epileptic Children

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of levetiracetam (LEV) therapy on lipid metabolism in euthyroid nonobese epileptic children.
Methods: In this case-control study, we recruited 37 epileptic children receiving LEV monotherapy for at least 12 months and 54 healthy controls. Fasting blood samples were obtained for analyzing serum thyroid-stimulating hormone, free triiodothyronine (FT3), free thyroxine, total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), triglycerides, Triglyceride/HDL ratio, and transaminases at the administration.
Results: There were nonsignificant elevated concentrations of TC HDL, LDL, aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase in epileptic children with LEV monotherapy relative to healthy controls (p=0.32, p=0.29, p=0.80, p=0.27, and p=0.44 respectively). Although all subjects were euthyroid, serum level of FT3 was significantly elevated in individuals with epilepsy compared with healthy controls (p<0.001). Among prepubertal epileptic children receiving LEV monotherapy, LDL, TC, and AST levels were significantly higher compared to pubertal ones (p=0.02, p=0.03, and p=0.018 respectively).
Conclusion: Epileptic children who were treated with LEV monotherapy are susceptible to lipid metabolism alterations. Although they have the protective effect of elevated HDL from cardiovascular disease, they are also slightly at risk of dyslipidemia resulting from elevated LDL and TC. Therefore, close monitoring of individual risk groups like prepubertal children and male sex for dyslipidemia-associated diseases is mandatory.