Gabapentin: An update of its pharmacological properties and therapeutic use in epilepsy

Abstract

• The new antiepileptic medications are prescribed for the treatment of patients with seizure disorders since 17 years ago. Gabapentin (GBP) was approved on January 1994 as adjunctive treatment in patients 12 years or older with partial seizures, with or devoid of secondary generalization. GBP, was formerly known as an anticonvulsant γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) mimetic, is considered as a safe and well-tolerated antiepileptic drug (AED) with promising pharmacokinetic properties and a wide therapeutic index. GBP is useful for the therapy of mixed seizure disorders and refractory partial seizures in children. GBP must be regarded as the first treatment for older patients with recently diagnosed seizures. GBP has a well recognized clinical efficacy in those types of focal epilepsy which were resistant to the traditional AEDs. The main object of this review was to evaluate the efficacy, tolerability, dosing schedules and safety of GBP that have been investigated in peer-reviewed journals.
• KEYWORDS: Antiepileptic Drugs, Efficacy, Epilepsy, Gabapentin, New Antiepileptic Drugs, Seizures