Effects and Drawbacks of Vigabatrin – A New Drug for Epilepsy

Posted under Category : Health Fundas

Vigabatrin : Antiepileptic Drug

Vigabatrin is the first designer drug for the treatment of epilepsy.

Chemical Nature of Vigabatrin:

Vigabatrin is the vinyl substituted analogue of GABA, that was designed as an inhibitor of the GABA-metabolising enzyme GABA transaminase.

Vigabatrin is extremely specific for the GABA transaminase enzyme and works by forming a strong irreversible covalent bond.

Effect of vigabatrin on animals in animal studies:

• Increases the GABA content of the brain
• Increases the stimulation evoked release of GABA
• Inhibition of the GABA transaminase enzyme leads to the increased releasable pool of the GABA and enhances the inhibitory transmission effectively
• Neurotoxicity is reported in animals

Effect of vigabatrin in humans:

• Increases the content of GABA in the cerebro spinal fluid
• The enzyme GABA transaminase is blocked irreversibly, so it shows long lasting effect even though it s having short plasma half-life
• The drug is administered once orally everyday

Drawbacks of Vigabatrin:

Depression may be seen in some patients. Psychotic disturbances are faced by a minority of the patients. There are relatively no other side effects than the above factors.

It is found effective in a substantial proportion of the patients who are resistant to the established drugs. It will gain the therapeutic importance in the near future.