Changes in the antioxidant system in epileptic children receiving antiepileptic drugs: Two-year prospective studies

The aim of this study was to measure changes in the antioxidant systems of epileptic children who had been receiving either valproate or carbamazepine monotherapy for 2 years. For this purpose, levels of erythrocyte glutathio ne, glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, and serum lipid peroxidat ion in 25 healthy children and 27 children who had previously been diagnose d as having epilepsy but who had not, prior to the study, received antiepil eptic drugs were tested. Of the 27 epileptic children, 14 were given valpro ate, and the remaining 13 were given carbamazepine; these tests were repeat ed in the 13th and 24th months of treatment. The results showed that, durin g valproate therapy, the lipid peroxidation levels of the epileptic childre n increased and the glutathione peroxidase levels decreased in comparison w ith those levels recorded in the control and pretreatment groups. In additi on, the superoxide dismutase levels were found to be increased during the f irst year of valproate therapy when compared with those of the pretreatment group. However, during carbamazepine therapy, lipid peroxidation levels in creased when compared with the control group only, not the pretreatment gro up. Furthermore, the results showed that during the second year of treatmen t, the superoxide dismutase levels of the children receiving carbamazapine monotherapy were found to be higher than those of both the control and pret reatment groups. From these results, it can be concluded that the antioxida nt systems of the children who had been receiving valproate therapy during the 2 years were more significantly affected than those of the children who had been receiving carbamazepine.