Levels of total gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), free GABA and homocarnosine in cerebrospinal fluid of epileptic patients before and during gamma-vinyl-GABA (vigabatrin) treatment.

Levels of total gamma-aminobutyric acid (TGABA), free GABA (FGABA), and homocarnosine (HC) were studied in CSF taken from 12 controls and 28 patients with drug-refractory epilepsy before and during 7 months of gamma-vinyl-GABA (GVG) administration. At baseline TGABA and FGABA in CSF of epileptic patients did not differ from that of the controls. In epileptic patients HC was 127% of that in controls. During GVG treatment TGABA was 283%, FGABA 197%, and HC 310% of the levels at baseline in the same patients. The patients who had over 50% reduction in seizure frequency during GVG (responders, 46% of the study population) at baseline had higher TGABA and HC in CSF than patients with less than 50% reduction in seizures (non-responders). During GVG the responders and nonresponders had similar levels of different GABAergic markers. The present study shows that in man GVG treatment effectively suppresses seizures in nearly half of the epileptic patients who had previously been drug-refractory. The elevated levels of GABAergic markers in CSF are not, however, necessarily related to good seizure control during GVG.