Comparative Assessment of Quality of Life and Serum S100B in Epilepsy Treated with Newer and Conventional Drugs: A Pharmacoeconomic Perspective.

Background and Purpose: S100B is a cytokine produced by astrocytes following glial and neuronal damage. This study aims to evaluate the impact of anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) on serum S100B levels and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) indices. Methods: In this prospective observational study, serum S100B levels were compared between persons with epilepsy (PWE) and healthy controls. In the PWE group, serum S100B levels and HRQoL using patient weighted quality of life in epilepsy (QOLIE-10-P), pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI), and liverpool adverse event profile (LAEP) scores were assessed at baseline and after 12 weeks of AEDs treatment. Results: The mean baseline serum S100B level in the PWE group was 0.093±0.031 μg/L, significantly higher than in the control group, 0.050±0.020 μg/L. In PWE, after 12 weeks of treatment, this level decreased by 17.20% (p<0.001). QOLIE-10-P scores showed improvement (32.1%; p<0.001) across both conventional and newer AED types. PSQI scores improved by 6.9% with conventional AEDs (p=0.19) and 35.7% with newer AEDs (p<0.001). LAEP scores increased by 5.06% with conventional AEDs (p=0.06) and decreased by 5.63% with newer AEDs (p=0.10). Seizures were significantly reduced in both groups (overall 86.09%). Treatment costs were higher for newer AEDs ($39.10) than for conventional AEDs ($16.73). Conclusions: Over 12 weeks of AED therapy, PWE demonstrated significant reductions in both serum S100B levels and seizure frequency. While conventional and newer AEDs yielded comparable improvements in HRQoL, newer AEDs conferred an advantage in sleep quality.