Immediate and controlled-release pregabalin for the treatment of epilepsy.

Immediate and controlled-release pregabalin for the treatment of epilepsy. Expert Rev Neurother. 2019 Oct 18;: Authors: Morano A, Palleria C, Citraro R, Nesci V, De Caro C, Giallonardo AT, De Sarro G, Russo E, Di Bonaventura C Abstract Introduction. Epilepsy is a common neurological disease requiring complex therapies, which have been unable to achieve seizure control in 30% of patients. Poor adherence has been recognized as a possible determinant of drug-resistance. Prolonged-release formulations of anti-epileptic drugs might help increase adherence, minimize side effects and pharmacological interactions. Areas Covered. Pregabalin (PGB) has peculiar pharmacodynamics and almost ideal pharmacokinetics, except for a short half-life and therefore requiring multiple daily dosing. PGB immediate-release (IR) is effective in focal-onset epilepsy (FOE), neuropathic pain, generalized anxiety disorder and fibromyalgia, despite some tolerability issues, especially at higher doses. The controlled-release formulation (PGB CR) shares PGB IR advantages and requires slight dose adjustments to guarantee bioavailability. In 2014, PGB CR (165 and 330 mg/day) failed to prove superior to placebo in a randomized placebo-controlled trial on 323 subjects with drug-resistant FOE, although it was just as tolerable. Therefore, PGB CR is not currently licensed for epilepsy. Expert opinion. Considering the disappointing results of the only controlled trial, PGB CR is unlikely to bec...
Source: Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics - Category: Neurology Tags: Expert Rev Neurother Source Type: research