Vitamin D status among patients with drug-resistant and non-drug-resistant epilepsy

International audienceBackground & Aims: Epilepsy affects nearly 70 million people worldwide. Vitamin D deficiency may influence the balance of certain epilepsies. The purpose of this study was to determine the vitamin D status and anthropometric measurements of people with epilepsy (PWE), according to their pharmacosensitivity. Methods: Forty-six PWE, with or without drug resistance, underwent nutritional assessment after giving consent. Weight, body mass index (BMI), triceps skinfold thickness (TSF), fat mass (FM) and free fat mass (FFM) by bioelectrical impedance analysis were measured. Serum vitamin D was determined without supplementation. Deficiency was defined as a level < 30 ng/mL. Statistical analysis involved Student t test, ANOVA and Chi2. Results: Patients were aged 44.5 ± 14.3 years, with 60.9% of drug-resistance. BMI was 28.7 ± 7.0, 2.2% were malnourished and 30.4% obese according to the BMI. The average vitamin D level was 15.3 ± 9.9 ng/mL, with 87.0% of deficiency, and 40.0% of severe deficiency (<10 ng/mL). The TSF was higher in drug-resistant cases (p = 0.03). There was no link between drug resistance and anthropometric measurements, FM, FFM or vitamin D concentration. Conclusions: Although limited in size, this study showed that PWE are more often obese. Vitamin D deficiency is more common than in the general population, with a much higher prevalence of severe deficiency

More Than 50 Percent Reduction in LDL Cholesterol in Patients With Target LDL <70 mg/dL After a Stroke

International audienceBACKGROUND: Whether a strategy to target an LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol 50% from baseline rather than 50% LDL cholesterol reduction from baseline during the trial had a higher baseline LDL cholesterol and a lower LDL cholesterol achieved as compared to patients who had 50% LDL reduction had a significant reduction in the primary outcome as compared to the higher target group (hazard ratio, 0.61 [95% CI, 0.43–0.88]; P =0.007) and patients with <50% LDL reduction from baseline had little reduction (hazard ratio, 0.96 [95% CI, 0.73–1.26]; P =0.75). CONCLUSIONS: In this post hoc analysis of the TST trial, targeting an LDL cholesterol of <70 mg/dL reduced the risk of primary outcome compared with 100±10 mg/dL provided LDL cholesterol reduction from baseline was superior to 50%, thereby suggesting that the magnitude of LDL cholesterol reduction was as important to consider as the target level to achieve. REGISTRATION: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov ; Unique identifier: NCT01252875. URL: https://clinicaltrialsregister.eu ; Unique identifier: EUDRACT2009-A01280-57.gov; Unique identifier: NCT01252875. URL: https://clinicaltrialsregister.eu; Unique identifier: EUDRACT2009-A01280-57.URL: https://www