Folate deficiency and anticonvulsant drugs.

Plasma and erythrocyte folate in iron deficiency and folate deficiency.

I T WAS SHOWN by Toennies et a!.1 that most of the blood folate is within the erythrocytes. The erythrocyte folate level may be reduced in either folate or vitamin B12 deficiency,25 and it can be used as an index of the folate content of body tissues.4 The present paper reports that in iron deficiency anemia there are abnormalities in distribution of folate between plasma and erythrocytes which...

Anticonvulsant drugs, growth, and development.

Height and stage of puberty of 67 children with epilepsy were measured before beginning treatment with anticonvulsant drugs and annually to a maximum five years' treatment. Blood concentrations of the drugs used (phenytoin, sodium valproate, carbamazepine, ethosuximide, and phenobarbitone) were monitored throughout. No significant deviation in growth patterns was detected.

Triazoline Anticonvulsant Drugs

Substitution of anticonvulsant drugs

Changing from branded drugs to generic alternatives, or between different generic formulations, is common practice aiming at reducing health care costs. It has been suggested that antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) should be exempt from substitution because of the potential negative consequences of adverse events and breakthrough seizures. Controlled data are lacking on the risk of substitution. Howeve...

Effect of anticonvulsant drugs on the rate of folate catabolism in mice.

An increase in folate catabolism has been suggested as the cause of the folate deficiency observed in many clinical conditions, including chronic anticonvulsant therapy. Previous studies have shown that the radioactive catabolites, excreted after an equilibration period of 3 d, consisted exclusively of folates that had been cleaved to produce pteridines and p-aminobenzoylglutamate, most of whic...