title: Can physiologic menstrual cycle change serum lamotrigine concentration?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The present study aimed to compare the serum LTG levels during the early-/mid-follicular (low estradiol) and mid-luteal (high estradiol) phases of the physiologic menstrual cycle.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a cross-sectional study, 20 women with epilepsy were recruited. Participants had been on monotherapy with LTG for at least two months. All the subjects had normal menstrual cycles. Blood samples for each patient were taken whilst fasting during the early-/mid-follicular (Days 3-5) and mid-luteal phases (Days 20-24). All samples were analyzed in batched assays. A comparison of the serum LTG levels was carried out using the Mann-Whitney U test Data were analyzed with the SPSS program, version 16 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL), p-values below 0.05 were considered significant.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean serum LTG levels for the early-/mid-follicular and mid-luteal phases were 4.28±2.76 mg/ml (SD) and 3.86±2.06 mg/ml (SD), respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in serum LTG level between the (low estradiol) early-/mid-follicular and (high estradiol) mid-luteal phases in our patients (p-value=0.23).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The serum level of LTG does not alter significantly during the menstrual cycle.
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor of Neurology, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Loghman Hakim Hospital, Department of Neurology, Iran.
authors.forename: Marjan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Asadollahi
authors.affiliation: Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Loghman Hakim Hospital, Department of Neurology, Iran. Electronic address: drmtbramezani@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Mahtab
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ramezani
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Shariaty Hospital, Department of Emergency Medicine, Iran.
authors.forename: Ehsan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Karimialavijeh
authors.affiliation: Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Loghman Hakim Hospital, Department of Neurology, Iran.
authors.forename: Mehrnaz
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tavakolian
authors.affiliation: Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Loghman Hakim Hospital, Department of Neurology, Iran.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ramezani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000097:blood* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D000077213:Lamotrigine; D008597:Menstrual Cycle / Q000097:blood* / Q000187:drug effects; D014227:Triazines / Q000097:blood* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants; D014227:Triazines; D000077213:Lamotrigine
keywords: Epilepsy; Estradiol; Lamotrigine; Serum concentration