Eslicarbazepine Acetate: A New Improvement on a Classic Drug Family for the Treatment of Partial-Onset Seizures.

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Galiana GL, Gauthier AC, Mattson RH

Eslicarbazepine Acetate: A New Improvement on a Classic Drug Family for the Treatment of Partial-Onset Seizures.

Drugs R D. 2017 Sep;17(3):329-339. doi: 10.1007/s40268-017-0197-5.

PubMed ID

28741150 [ View in PubMed

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Abstract

Eslicarbazepine acetate is a new anti-epileptic drug belonging to the dibenzazepine carboxamide family that is currently approved as adjunctive therapy and monotherapy for partial-onset (focal) seizures. The drug enhances slow inactivation of voltage-gated sodium channels and subsequently reduces the activity of rapidly firing neurons. Eslicarbazepine acetate has few, but some, drug-drug interactions. It is a weak enzyme inducer and it inhibits cytochrome P450 2C19, but it affects a smaller assortment of enzymes than carbamazepine. Clinical studies using eslicarbazepine acetate as adjunctive treatment or monotherapy have demonstrated its efficacy in patients with refractory or newly diagnosed focal seizures. The drug is generally well tolerated, and the most common side effects include dizziness, headache, and diplopia. One of the greatest strengths of eslicarbazepine acetate is its ability to be administered only once per day. Eslicarbazepine acetate has many advantages over older anti-epileptic drugs, and it should be strongly considered when treating patients with partial-onset epilepsy.

DrugBank Data that Cites this Article

Drug Enzymes

Drug	Enzyme	Kind	Organism	Pharmacological Action	Actions
Eslicarbazepine	Cytochrome P450 2C19	Protein	Humans	Unknown	Inhibitor	Details
Eslicarbazepine acetate	Cytochrome P450 2C19	Protein	Humans	No	Inhibitor	Details