ALDH7A1 beyond pyridoxine-dependent epilepsy – a 2016 overview

Pyridoxine. I still remember when I learned about vitamin B6 deficient epilepsy in medical school. One of the residents quizzed me about the first medication to given to a seizing neonate. I suggested phenobarbital, but he shook his head and said “vitamin B6” – which was something that I had never really heard about before. Technically, pyridoxine is not the first-line treatment in neonatal seizures on most protocols, but vitamin-dependent epilepsies are always on the differential in newborns with seizures. Here are a few things about ALDH7A1 that are new in 2016. Continue reading