title: The Investigation of Insulin Resistance in Two Groups of Epileptic Patients Treated with Sodium Valproate and Carbamazepine.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Valproic acid (VPA) is a widely used broad-spectrum antiepileptic drug for therapy of generalized and focal epilepsies. Cross-sectional studies have suggested that valproate treatment may be associated with hyperinsulinemia. We decided to investigate hyperinsulinemia as a health-threatening side effect of VPA in Iranian epileptic patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Body mass index (BMI), lipid profile, fasting serum insulin, fasting blood glucose (FBS), and homeostatic model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) were measured in 30 VPA-treated epileptic patients and 30 controls (CBZ-treated). The Chi-square test,t-test, and Pearson correlation test were used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  BMI was higher in VPA group than in control group (25.7 ± 3.5 > 21.7 ± 4.1) (0.000 < 0.05). Prevalence of obesity was 16.6% in VPA group that was almost the same and even lower than general Iranian population. Serum triglyceride (TG) (150 ± 77.2) was higher than CBZ group (114 ± 35.2) (P= 0.023 < 0.05). However, serum high-density lipoprotein level was lower in VPA group than controls (45.2 ± 11.7 < 54.4 ± 13.9) (P= 0.008 < 0.05). Serum insulin, FBS, HOMA-IR, cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein did not demonstrate statistically significant differences between the two groups (P> 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite the majority of previous studies that are against VPA and according to our study, VPA could be prescribed safely and it may not cause IR and its complications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Isfahan Neurosciences Research Center, Alzahra Hospital, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Najafi
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran.
authors.forename: Bahareh
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bazooyar
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Isfahan Neurosciences Research Center, Alzahra Hospital, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zare
authors.affiliation: Health Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Aghaghazvini
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Isfahan Neurosciences Research Center, Alzahra Hospital, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Behnaz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ansari
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Isfahan Neurosciences Research Center, Alzahra Hospital, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rajaei
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Isfahan Neurosciences Research Center, Alzahra Hospital, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Masoumeh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dashti
keywords: Body mass index; carbamazepine; epilepsy; homeostatic model assessment insulin resistance; insulin resistance; lipid profile; sodium valproate