To determine the effect of long-term antiepileptic drug on the serum folate and vitamin B12 among epileptic patients

The purpose of this study was to prevent anaemia caused on long-term phenytoin treatment among Epileptic patients. Therefore, two groups were categorised based on the duration of phenytoin namely, cases and control. The duration of Phenytoin treatment for case was>2 years while control had<1 year. The estimation of serum Folate and Vitamin B12 was carried out and the association between the deficiency of Vitamins with the duration of treatment were evaluated using Linear Regression Analysis. The statistical results shown that the mean value of Folate (2.611.81) and the mean value of Vitamin B12 (284.68 +/- 110.12) were considered to be low as the duration of Phenytoin treatment increases (>2 years) compare to control with the Folate concentration of (7.01 +/- 4.40) which was statistically significant (p<0.000). The experimental results have proved that a long-term phenytoin treatment significantly affects the concentration of Folate and Vitamin B12 among the Epileptic patients vigorously.

Automated summary

The study reveals that long-term phenytoin treatment significantly impacts the concentration of Folate and Vitamin B12 among epileptic patients, potentially leading to anemia. The mean values of Folate and Vitamin B12 decrease as the duration of phenytoin treatment increases, with significant differences compared to the short-term treatment group.