Lamotrigine (marketed as Lamictal ( ) by GlaxoSmithKline, called Lamictin in South Africa, למוג'ין (Lamogine) in Israel, and 라믹탈 in South Korea) is an anticonvulsant drug used in the treatment of epilepsy and bipolar disorder. For epilepsy it is used to treat partial seizures, primary and secondary tonic-clonic seizures, and seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. Lamotrigine also acts as a mood stabilizer. It is the first medication since lithium to be granted approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the maintenance treatment of bipolar type I. Chemically unrelated to other anticonvulsants, lamotrigine has relatively few side-effects and does not require blood monitoring in monotherapy. The exact way lamotrigine works is unknown. Some think that it is a Na + (sodium) channel blocker, though it is interesting to note that lamotrigine shares very few side-effects with other, unrelated anticonvulsants known to inhibit sodium channels, (e.g. Oxcarbazepine), which may suggest that lamotrigine has a different mechanism of action. Lamotrigine is inactivated by hepatic glucuronidation. Lamotrigine has a wide range of clincal uses. It has been found to be useful to treat neuropathy and also is known to be effective in treating unipolar depression, therefore patients with only these symptoms can derive an optimum benefit from lamotrigine when suffering from only these two symptoms. However, lamotrigine has also been successful in controlling rapid cycling and mixed bipolar states in persons with more serious psychiatric disorders and who have not received what is considered to be adequate relief from lithium, carbamazepine or valproate, because it is deemed to possibly have significantly more antidepressant potency than either carbamazepine or valproate. Lamotrigine has recently been reported to be a useful treatment for some people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD). A recent study reported beneficial effects on individuals with schizoaffective disorder, bipolar subtype with depression. (more)
Type: drug
Genres: chemistry, biology, health, science
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Bipolar disorder:
Bipolar disorder is not a single disorder, but a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated mood, clinically referred to as mania. Individuals who experience manic episodes also commonly experien
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Posttraumatic stress disorder:
Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to one or more terrifying events in which grave physical harm occurred or was threatened. National Institute of Mental Health, US National Institutes of Heal
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Lithium pharmacology:
Lithium in pharmacology refers to use of the lithium ion, Li + , as a drug. A number of chemical salts of lithium are used medically as a mood stabilizing drug, primarily in the treatment of bipolar disorder, where they have a role in the treatment o
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Schizoaffective disorder:
Schizoaffective disorder is a psychiatric diagnosis of a neurobiological illness. It describes a condition where symptoms of a mood disorder and symptoms of schizophrenia are both present. A person may manifest impairments in the perception or expres
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Epilepsy:
Epilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder that is characterized by recurrent unprovoked seizures. These seizures are transient signs and/or symptoms due to abnormal, excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain. About 50 million p
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GlaxoSmithKline:
GlaxoSmithKline plc ( ) is a United Kingdom-based pharmaceutical, biological, and healthcare company. GSK is the world's second largest pharmaceutical company and a research-based company with a wide portfolio of pharmaceutical products covering ant
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Mania:
Mania (from Greek μανία and that from μαίνομαι - mainomai, "to rage, to be furious") is a severe medical condition characterized by extremely elevated mood, energy, unusual thought patterns and sometimes psychosis. There are several possible causes f
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Anticonvulsant:
The anticonvulsants, also called antiepileptic drugs (abbreviated "AEDs"), belong to a diverse group of pharmaceuticals used in prevention of the occurrence of epileptic seizures. Anticonvulsants are also increasingly finding ways into the treatment
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Stevens-Johnson syndrome:
Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) is a life-threatening condition affecting the skin, in which due to cell death the epidermis separates from the dermis. The syndrome is thought to be a hypersensitivity complex affecting the skin and the mucous membrane
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Topiramate:
Topiramate (brand name Topamax) is an anticonvulsant drug produced by Ortho-McNeil Neurologics, a division of Johnson & Johnson. Generic versions are available in Canada and were FDA approved in September 2006 . It was discovered in 1979 by Drs. Bruc
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