BACKGROUND

Epilepsies are among the most common diseases of the CNS. As available antiepileptic drugs do not successfully control seizures in one-third of these patients, the development of drugs with new mechanisms of action is an urgent requirement.

METHODS

Preclinical and clinical data of the recently released antiepileptic drug perampanel are reviewed based on search in medical databases with special reference to its mechanism of action and to its pharmacokinetic properties relevant for clinical treatment. Pharmacodynamically, perampanel is a noncompetitive AMPA-receptor antagonist exerting its antiepileptic properties by modulating glutamatergic synaptic excitation. Pharmacokinetically, perampanel is characterized by a short Tmax but slow hepatic metabolism and a mean plasma half-life of 105 h, allowing for once-daily dosing. Perampanel has shown antiepileptic properties in several animal models of seizures and epilepsy, and in clinical studies significantly reducing partial-onset seizures in a dose range from 4 to 12 mg/day both in blinded short-term and in open-label long-term extension trials even in highly pharmacoresistant patients. Aside from adverse effects of dizziness and somnolence, neuropsychiatric disturbances have been reported in patient subgroups, making careful clinical monitoring during uptitration recommendable.

CONCLUSIONS

The use of perampanel focusing on control of abnormal synaptic excitation profits from favorable pharmacokinetics and from proven efficacy and overall good tolerability also in patient populations nonresponsive to treatment with previously available antiepileptic drugs.