Plasma vitamin E (alpha tocopherol) levels in normal children and in epileptic children with and without anticonvulsant drug therapy.

Plasma alpha tocopherol was assayed in 308 apparently normal children, epileptic children not on anticonvulsants, and anticonvulsant-treated epileptic children. The age range of the subjects was 5 to 12 years and both sexes were equally represented in each group. Plasma alpha tocopherol levels were significantly (p less than 0.001) lower in the anticonvulsant-treated epileptic children than either of the other groups. The values in all groups were lower than published values for adults. No difference in plasma alpha tocopherol values was attributable to sex. The lower plasma alpha tocopherol value in the anticonvulsant-treated epileptic children is probably related to the drug therapy.