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Serum Magnesium Levels and Lipid Profile in Patients with Epileptic Seizures: A Cross-sectional Study
BC01-BC04
Correspondence
Dr. Astha Goyal,
Tutor, Department of Biochemistry, Dr. D.Y. Patil Medical College, Pimpri, Pune-411018, Maharashtra, India.
E-mail: asthagoyal2102@gmail.com
Introduction: Recurrent seizures of cerebral origin with episodes of sensory, motor, or autonomic expression, with or without loss of consciousness, are typical symptoms of epilepsy, a chronic neurological condition. As a voltage-dependent calcium channel antagonist, magnesium inhibits calcium ion release, which reduces neuronal excitability in hypomagnesemia. It is well recognised that the most frequently prescribed Anti-epileptic Drugs (AEDs), namely carbamazepine, phenytoin, and phenobarbital, have adverse effects on lipid profiles.
Aim: To compare the levels of serum magnesium and serum lipid profiles in patients with epileptic seizures and healthy controls.
Materials and Methods: The present cross-sectional study included 50 clinically diagnosed patients with epileptic seizures, aged between 18-60 years, and 50 age and sex-matched healthy controls visiting the Department of Neurology, Mahatma Gandhi Medical College (MGMC), Jaipur, Rajasthan, India from October 2019 to March 2020. A 5 mL venous blood sample was collected for biochemical investigations such as serum magnesium, serum Total Cholesterol (TC), serum Triglycerides (TG), serum High Density Lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), serum Low Density Lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and serum Very Low Density Lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C) and assayed. Student’s t-test was applied, and a p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: In the present study, epileptic cases (n=50) included 35 male patients and 15 female patients with a mean age of 36.1±15.56 years, and healthy controls (n=50) included 37 male patients and 13 female patients with a mean age of 38.26±8.54 years. When compared to healthy controls, patients with epileptic seizures had lower serum magnesium levels with mean values of 4.18±1.22 and 2.12±1.00, respectively (p-value ≤0.001). Patients with epileptic seizures had higher values of the serum lipid profile, i.e., serum TG, TC, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol than healthy controls with a p-value ≤0.001, which is statistically significant. On the contrary, serum HDL-C levels in epileptic patients (43.68±7.37 mg/dL) are lower than healthy controls (49.69±5.73 mg/dL).
Conclusion: Correcting the serum magnesium levels in people with epileptic seizures may help reduce the intensity of the seizures.