Oxcarbazepine administration and the serum levels of homocysteine, vitamin B12 and folate in epileptic patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

The objectives were to determine the influence of oxcarbazepine (OXC) monotherapy on the serum levels of total homocysteine (tHcy), vitamin B12 and folate in patient with epilepsy pooling together case-control or interventional studies. A comprehensive literature search was done through four databases including MEDLINE/PubMed, Scopus, Embase and Web of Science from January 2000 to February 2016. A random effects model (the DerSimonian-Laird estimator) was utilized to pool the effect sizes of the individual studies. The between-study variance was assessed using the Q2 test (significance level p<0.1) and quantified using the I test (>50% indicated evidence of heterogeneity). Overall, six studies found eligible for inclusion. The meta-analysis for tHcy revealed that the serum level of tHcy was no significant difference between patient on OXC monotherapy and healthy people [mean difference (MD) 0.31; 95% CI -1.05, 1.67, p=0.653]. The meta-analysis for vitamin B12 [MD -46.51; 95% CI -113.63, 20.62, p=0.174] and folate [MD -0.48; 95% CI -1.06, 0.11, p=0.113] indicated that there was no significant difference between patients on OXC monotherapy and healthy people. In conclusion, the meta-analysis does not support the hypotheses that OXC monotherapy changes the serum levels of tHcy, vitamin B12 and folate.