Serum Magnesium Levels and Lipid Profile in Patients with Epileptic Seizures: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

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 Antiepileptic 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 sexmatched 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.