Serum SIRT3 levels in epilepsy patients and its association with clinical outcomes and severity: A prospective observational study

Objective In this prospective observational study, we aimed to investigate the serum levels of sirtuin (SIRT)3 in epilepsy patients and its association with the severity of the disease. Methods This prospective observational study included 203 patients with symptomatic epilepsy and 100 healthy controls who visited our hospital from November 2019 to November 2022. The severity of the disease in epilepsy patients was assessed using the National Hospital Seizure Severity Scale (NHS3). We used enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to measure the serum levels of SIRT3, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1β, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and C-reactive protein in all patients. In addition, the cognitive function of all study participants was evaluated using the Mini-Mental State Examination and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA). All data were analyzed using SPSS 25.0 software. Results The MOCA scores of the epilepsy patients were significantly lower compared to the healthy volunteers (P < 0.05). The serum SIRT3 levels were decreased significantly in patients with refractory epilepsy (183.16 ± 17.22 pg/mL) compared to non-refractory epilepsy patients (199.00 ± 18.68 pg/mL). In addition, serum SIRT3 levels were negatively correlated with the inflammatory factors IL-6 (Pearson’s correlation −0.221, P = 0.002) and NHS score (Pearson’s correlation −0.272, P < 0.001) of epilepsy patients, while positively correlated with MOCA scores (Pearson’s correlation 0.166, P = 0.018). Furthermore, the receiver operating characteristic curve demonstrated that serum SIRT3 could be used to diagnose epilepsy, as well as refractory epilepsy. Finally, logistic regression analysis showed that SIRT3 (OR = 1.028, 95%CI: 1.003–1.054, P = 0.028), IL-6 (OR = 0.666, 95%CI: 0.554–0.800, P < 0.001), IL-1β (OR = 0.750, 95%CI: 0.630–0.894, P = 0.001), and NHS3 (OR = 0.555, 95%CI: 0.435–0.706, P < 0.001) were risk factors for refractory epilepsy. Conclusion In conclusion, our findings demonstrated that serum SIRT3 levels were significantly decreased in epilepsy patients and further decreased in patients with refractory epilepsy. This study might provide new therapeutic targets and comprehensive treatment strategies for epilepsy patients.