Lacosamide: pharmacology, mechanisms of action and pooled efficacy and safety data in partial-onset seizures.
Lacosamide is an antiepileptic drug approved in the USA and Europe as adjunctive therapy for partial-onset seizures. Studies suggest that lacosamide selectively enhances slow inactivation of voltage-gated sodium channels and possibly interacts with collapsin response mediator protein-2. The efficacy of lacosamide has been shown in animal models of epilepsy and Phase II/III clinical trials. Pharmacokinetic studies show that it is renally excreted, minimally bound to plasma proteins and has no known clinically relevant drug-drug interactions. Clinical trials show that lacosamide is well tolerated; the most common adverse events were dizziness, nausea and vomiting. In a Phase II/III pooled analysis, lacosamide 200 and 400 mg/day significantly reduced partial-onset seizure frequency and improved the 50% responder rate compared with placebo.
Beydoun
Ahmad
A
American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon. ab29@aub.edu.lb
D'Souza
Joseph
J
Hebert
David
D
Doty
Pamela
P
D000081:Acetamides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D006801:Humans; D000078334:Lacosamide; D012640:Seizures / Q000188:drug therapy*
D000081:Acetamides; D000927:Anticonvulsants; D000078334:Lacosamide