Table 1

- Characteristics of the healthy control participants as well as the patients with drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE) and drug-responsive epilepsy (DSE).

CharacteristicsHealthy controls (n=132)DRE patients (n=80)P-valueDSE patients (n=46)P-value
Gender
Male77490.675260.83
Female5531 20 
Age (years)29 (26, 34)27 (23.25, 33.75)0.00927 (22, 34.25)0.056
BMI (kg/m2)23.65 (21.8, 25.70)22.69 (19.99, 26.92)0.25422.67 (20.90, 25.51)0.27
Duration of epilepsy (years)N/A13 (10, 21.75)N/A9 (4.75, 20)N/A
Seizure frequency in the day prior to blood draw n (%)
DailyN/A28 (35)N/AN/AN/A
WeeklyN/A20 (26)N/AN/AN/A
MonthlyN/A32 (40)N/AN/AN/A
AED utilization profile at the last clinic visit n (%)
MonotherapyN/A13 (16.3)N/A16 (34.8)N/A
PolytherapyN/A67 (83.8)N/A30 (65.2)N/A
Glutamate (μM)111.358 (99.088, 131.814)187.68 (152.505, 215.515)<0.001115.074 (91.71, 152.072)0.523
Glutamine (μM)762.65 (709.775, 820.926)784.142 (726.821, 864.685)0.111880.132 (760.29, 954.172)<0.001
  • BMI - body mass index, AED - antiepileptic drug, N/A - not applicable. Data for age, BMI, duration of eplilepsy, and levels of glutamate and glutamine are presented as median (25% percentile, 75% percentile)