Magnesium, Zinc and Copper Contents in Hair and Their Serum Concentrations in Patients with Epilepsy

Abstract

Objective: Although trace elements are found a littleamount in body they have obvious structural functionalimportance and have an important role on a variety ofbiological processes. Since the abnormal metabolismof metal ions plays an important role in health anddisease conditions, studies about them have beenattracting great interest. The aim of our study was toevaluate magnesium, zinc and copper contents in hairand serum concentrations in patients with epilepsy.Method: Twenty-seven patients (12 male, 15 female;mean age 42,73 ± 16,23 years) with epilepsy and 29age-matched healthy subjects (12 male, 17 female;mean age 49,76 ± 13,11 years) were enrolled in thisstudy. We assessed Mg, Zn and Cu contents in hairand their serum levels in all subjects with an atomicabsorption spectrophotometer. Results werecalculated in ppm for hair and in µg/ml for serum. Forcomparison of means, Student’s t test was used.Results: The mean values of trace elementconcentrations of hair in patients were significantlyreduced compared with the controls (mean magnesiumconcentration in patients, 111,33 ± 37,33 vs. control,133.57 ± 22.91 [p<0.01], mean zinc concentration inpatients, 121,40 ± 45,40 vs. control, 176.96 ± 43.10[p<0.001], mean copper concentration in patients, 42,74± 20,36 vs. control, 60.22 ± 22.32 [p<0.05]). Althoughthe serum levels of magnesium and zinc are lower inpatients with epilepsy than the levels in controls, thesedifferences were not found to be significant (meanmagnesium level in patients, 19,4 ± 2,7 vs. control, 23,3± 12,3 [p>0.05], mean zinc level in patients, 1,54 ± 0,79vs. control, 1,86 ± 0,83 [p>0.05]). Furthermore, lowermagnesium levels in patients with epilepsy wereclosely related to pharmacoresistant epilepsy.Conclusion: These data indicate that concentrationsof Mg, Zn and Cu are altered trace elementconcentrations become change in patients withepilepsy during interictal periods and these changesmay be important, especially low magnesium levels,in anticonvulsant drugs designed for the clinicalproblem of pharmacoresistant epilepsy. Key words: Epilepsy, hair, serum, trace element