Lipid and thyroid hormone levels in children with epilepsy treated with levetiracetam or carbamazepine: A prospective observational study.

Although previous studies have investigated the influence of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) on lipid profiles and thyroid hormone levels, there is little evidence regarding the effects of levetiracetam (LEV). Therefore, we conducted a prospective longitudinal study to evaluate the effects of LEV and carbamazepine (CBZ) treatment on lipid profile and thyroid hormone levels in patients newly diagnosed with epilepsy. Inclusion criteria were as follows: (a) age between 4 and 15 years, (b) diagnosis of epilepsy with at least two focal seizures within a year, and (c) newly treated with LEV or CBZ monotherapy. Serum lipid profile and thyroid hormone levels were measured before and after 1 and 6 months of AED initiation. Among the 21 included patients (LEV: 13 patients, CBZ: 8 patients), all but one patient in the LEV group continued AED monotherapy during the study period. Although triglyceride (TG) levels tended to be increased in the CBZ group (baseline: 58.3 ± 22.0 mg/dl, 1 month: 63.8 ± 21.6 mg/dl, 6 months: 92.3 ± 63.6 mg/dl, p = 0.22, analyses of variance (ANOVA)), there were no significant changes in total cholesterol (TC), TG levels, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), or low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in either group. Serum free thyroxine (fT4) levels were significantly decreased in the CBZ group (baseline: 1.15 ± 0.06 ng/dl, 1 month: 1.00 ± 0.16 ng/dl, 6 months: 0.98 ± 0.14 ng/dl, p = 0.03, ANOVA). In contrast, there were no significant changes in fT4 or thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels in the LEV group. The results of the present study suggest that LEV monotherapy does not affect lipid profile or thyroid function while CBZ monotherapy may cause thyroid dysfunction.