Epilepsy drug linked to risk of liver disease

Recent research shows that treatment with the anti-epilepsy drug sodium valproate tends to increase body weight. The results also show that patients treated with the drug appear to have an increased risk of developing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Researchers from the Innsbruck University Hospital, Austria, recruited 45 non-diabetic patients with epilepsy who were being treated with either sodium valproate or another anti-seizure drug, carbamazepine. It was found that signs of fatty liver disease - known technically as steatosis - were seen on ultrasound in 14 of the 23 valproate-treated patients but in only 5 of the 22 carbamazepine-treated patients. Also, participants in the sodium valproate group had higher levels of steatosis than those in the carbamazepine group. In both the treatment groups, patients with steatosis had a higher body mass index than did those without. Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that the risk of developing NALFD appeared to increase in patients treated with sodium valproate.

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