High levels of uric acid after grand mal seizure?

[EpiInternational]

Hello,

I realize that this is a highly specific question but it will take a while until I will be able to ask a doctor about this (those long waiting times) so I thought I'd give it a try:

Is it normal to have increased concentration of uric acid in your blood after a grand mal seizure?

Ive got multiple results of routine bloodtests which were made right after a grand mal seizure and all of them show a concentration that is too high. No doctor has mentioned this so far but then again, docs tend to miss things here and there

I'd just like to know if this is related to the seizure. Otherwise I'd arrange another bloodtest to see if my uric acid is too high all the time.

 

[Keith]

This is a brilliant insight and I believe you're on to something important. The question of whether high levels of uric acid in epilepsy is a cause or consequence of seizure has been asked for over a century. This 1896 paper sides with "Cause" and what a shame the full paper is not available:
http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/content/19/1/68

The question becomes: what causes high levels of uric acid? It's associated with diabetes and obesity which I believe are about microbial imbalance, especially in the small intestine:
http://www.dmsjournal.com/content/4/1/12

You may have hit upon a clue that your seizures are of gut origin.

 

[Nakamova]

Epileptic seizures are known to cause sudden overproduction of uric acid. But I think it would be wise to ask your neuro and/or GP about the high uric acid levels. If it's a chronic condition, then it might be a sign of an underlying kidney problem or other health issue that could be playing a triggering role in your seizures.

Other causes of elevated uric acid levels can be dietary (high-protein diet) and certain medication,s so if those apply to you make sure your doctor is aware.

 

[Keith]

Nakamova, it seems the retention of uric acid is the issue where seizure releases uric acid. But the build-up of uric acid in tissue is associated with timing and intensity of seizure (at least in rabbits!!):
https://books.google.com/books?id=D...AEwAjgK#v=onepage&q=uric acid seizure&f=false

This got me thinking about serotonin levels which are known low in constipation associated with seizure (serotonin is retained in mucosal cells instead of released as it is in diarrhea). Here's a paper showing how SSRIs are correlated with uric acid for the first time in 2010, raising serum uric acid:
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12291-010-0016-z
full paper here: http://medind.nic.in/iaf/t10/i1/iaft10i1p77.pdf

Since 2010 there have been papers published about mental health and uric acid levels finding high levels associated with depression in humans. This very recent paper again showed relationship to serotonin levels where high serum uric acid correlates with low serotonin:
http://www.jad-journal.com/article/S0165-0327(14)00817-9/abstract

This 2014 paper showed how lactic acid bacteria regulate uric acid levels:
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0105577

So this relationship between uric acid and serotonin appears very important regarding epilepsy as serotonin levels regulate the glutamatergic system leading to excitotoxicity or stability.