Published in:
01-09-2016 | Original Paper
Effects of lacosamide “a novel antiepileptic drug” in the early stages of chicken embryo development
Published in: Child's Nervous System | Issue 9/2016
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Introduction
Antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) are teratogens and confer a risk of congenital malformation. The estimated prevalence of major congenital malformations such as cardiac defects, facial clefts, hypospadias, and neural tube defects in epileptic women is 4–10 %, which represents a two- to fourfold increase in pregnant women compared to the general population. However, there are no clear data for newer drugs. Lacosamide (LCM), a novel AED, is the first of the third-generation AEDs to be approved as adjunctive therapy for the treatment of partial-onset seizures. There are no data on the pharmacokinetics of LCM during pregnancy, and only some published data have reported on its effects during pregnancy.
Methods
In this study, three different doses of LCM (0.12, 0.5, and 1.60 mg in 0.18 mL) were applied under the embryonic disks of specific pathogen-free Leghorn chicken embryos after a 30-h incubation. Incubation was continued for 80 h, at which time all embryos were evaluated macroscopically and microscopically.
Results
There was growth retardation in all of the LCM-treated groups. Major malformations increased in a dose-dependent manner and were mostly observed in the supratherapeutic group.
Conclusion
Based on our data, LCM may cause growth retardation or major congenital malformations. Nevertheless, more extensive investigations of its reliability are needed.