Levetiracetam concentration in hair is associated with the time schedule of administration: Study on rats

Abstract

Measurement of hair drug content may be a reliable biomarker of the history of drug exposure, allowing to assess patient long‐term compliance. Studies on correlations between antiepileptic drugs intake and their hair contents are limited. The aim of the study was to determine the association between the history of levetiracetam administration and its content in rat hair in controlled laboratory conditions. Additionally, the effects of levetiracetam on hair growth rate and body‐weights were examined. Three groups of 12 rats each were exposed to different schedules of levetiracetam administration (10 mg/kg i.p.: every 24, 48 and 72 hours) for 30 days. The control group received daily saline injection. Levetiracetam concentrations in hair were assessed by validated LC‐MS/MS method. The mean hair concentrations were as follows: 300 (±100), 170 (±60) and 130 (±80) ng/mg for rats receiving levetiracetam every 24, 48 and 72 hours, respectively. The levetiracetam accumulation in the hair was correlated with the total number of doses received (r = .699, P < .001). Levetiracetam did not affect the hair growth rate and rat body‐weight. The concentration of levetiracetam measured in rat hair represents a reliable marker. It may reflect the adherence to levetiracetam treatment; however, further studies on human beings are needed.

Hair as a matrix in monitoring drug epilepsy therapy

“…Our previous published rat study showed that the levetiracetam accumulation in pulverized hair was correlated with the total number of doses received ( r = .699, P < .001) 10 . We concluded that levetiracetam measured in rat hair represents a reliable marker and may reflect adherence to levetiracetam treatment 10 .…”

“…10 We concluded that levetiracetam measured in rat hair represents a reliable marker and may reflect adherence to levetiracetam treatment. 10 This time, we conducted a similar study in rats (under the same conditions), but with the aim of comparing the methods of hair sample preparation (cutting vs pulverization) for the analysis of the concentration of the anti-epileptic drug levetiracetam. Choosing the most appropriate method is very important because we wanted to introduce the analysis of levetiracetam concentration in pulverized hair into routine diagnostics in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy.…”

“…The mean extraction recovery calculated for levetiracetam in hair (cut/pulverized) was above 98% at low concentration, and above 99% at middle and high concentrations, respectively. No matrix effect was observed 10 . The stability studies were conducted using the two concentration levels of the quality control (QC) samples on 3 replicates for each one.…”

“…Our previous published rat study showed that the levetiracetam accumulation in pulverized hair was correlated with the total number of doses received ( r = .699, P < .001) 10 . We concluded that levetiracetam measured in rat hair represents a reliable marker and may reflect adherence to levetiracetam treatment 10 . This time, we conducted a similar study in rats (under the same conditions), but with the aim of comparing the methods of hair sample preparation (cutting vs pulverization) for the analysis of the concentration of the anti‐epileptic drug levetiracetam.…”

Intergenerational implications of alcohol intake: metabolic disorders in alcohol-naïve rat offspring

“…All the rats were housed in the same environmental conditions and handled by the same experimenters for at least 30 days before blood sampling. The environmental conditions were as previously described in the study of Zakrzewska et al (2020) . Specifically, the rats were housed in standard plastic cages, in groups of three, with wood chip bedding on the floor, in fully controlled environmental conditions : temperature 22 ± 2 °C, humidity 50% ±5, and 12-hour light/12-hour dark cycles with lights on at 8.00 a.m. All the rats had unlimited access to tap water and standard laboratory chow (Labofeed H, WPIK, Kcynia, Poland) throughout the duration of the study.…”