Plasma homovanillic acid levels in temporal lobe epilepsy

Fukuda, Masato; Niwa, Shin-Ichi; Kumagai, Naoki; Nagakubo, Shoji; Hashimoto, Ohiko; Shirayama, Yukihiko; Hata, Akinobu; Kameyama, Tomomichi; Anzai, Nobuo

doi:10.1016/S0896-6974(98)00031-0

« Previous Next »Journal of Epilepsy
Volume 11, Issue 6 , Pages 383-388, November 1998

Plasma homovanillic acid levels in temporal lobe epilepsy

Masato Fukuda
- From the Department of Neuropsychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
- Address correspondence and reprint requests to Masato Fukuda, M.D., Department of Neuropsychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-8655, Japan.
Shin-Ichi Niwa
- From the Department of Neuropsychiatry, Fukushima Medical College, Fukushima, Japan
Naoki Kumagai
- From the Tokyo Metropolitan Matsuzawa Hospital, Tokyo, Japan
Shoji Nagakubo
- From the Katsushikabashi Hospital, Tokyo, Japan
Ohiko Hashimoto
- From the Department of Neuropsychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
Yukihiko Shirayama
- From the Department of Psychiatry, Posts and Telecommunications Kanto Hospital, Tokyo, Japan
Akinobu Hata
- From the Department of Neuropsychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
Tomomichi Kameyama
- From the Department of Psychiatry, Posts and Telecommunications Tokyo Hospital, Tokyo, Japan
Nobuo Anzai
- From the Tokyo Metropolitan Matsuzawa Hospital, Tokyo, Japan

Received 17 March 1998; accepted 2 April 1998.

The role of the central dopaminergic system in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) was investigated through measurement of plasma homovanillic acid (pHVA) levels. Plasma HVA levels in 30 patients with TLE were determined and compared with those in 53 healthy control subjects. Their relationship with clinical variables was investigated. The mean pHVA level of the TLE patients (9.44 ± 3.44 ng/ml) was not significantly different from that of the normal control subjects (8.40 ± 2.67 ng/ml). The differences were also nonsignificant when the patients were divided into subgroups according to seizure frequency, the interval between blood sampling and the preceding or following seizure, paroxysm laterality in electroencephalogram, the number of antiepileptic drugs administered, manifestation of psychotic symptoms, or antipsychotic medication. The obtained results were interpreted as indicating dopaminergic activities are not involved in the pathophysiology of TLE or decreased dopaminergic activities in TLE patients are balanced with compensatorily increased dopaminergic activities for suppressing seizure generation.

Key words: Temporal lobe epilepsy, Dopamine, Plasma homovanillic acid, Refractory seizure

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