Thalidomide for treatment of refractory epilepsy

Guadalupe Palencia; Iris E Martinez-Juarez; Alejandra Calderon; Carol Artigas; Julio Sotelo

doi:10.1016/j.eplepsyres.2010.10.003

Thalidomide for treatment of refractory epilepsy

Epilepsy Res. 2010 Dec;92(2-3):253-7. doi: 10.1016/j.eplepsyres.2010.10.003. Epub 2010 Oct 28.

Authors

Guadalupe Palencia¹, Iris E Martinez-Juarez, Alejandra Calderon, Carol Artigas, Julio Sotelo

Affiliation

¹ Neuroimmunology Unit, National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery of Mexico, Mexico.

PMID: 21035311
DOI: 10.1016/j.eplepsyres.2010.10.003

Abstract

We have experimentally shown that thalidomide has strong anticonvulsant properties. In an open label study, eight male patients with refractory epilepsy received thalidomide at daily-doses of 200 mg during 1 year, frequency of seizures before and during treatment were compared. The mean number of seizures before thalidomide administration was 26 ± 4 per month; it decreased to 7 ± 1 along thalidomide therapy. Our results indicate that thalidomide has strong therapeutic effects in refractory epilepsy.

Publication types

Clinical Trial
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Analysis of Variance
Epilepsy / classification
Epilepsy / drug therapy*
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Immunosuppressive Agents / therapeutic use*
Statistics, Nonparametric
Thalidomide / therapeutic use*

Substances

Immunosuppressive Agents
Thalidomide