Trial of antiepilepsirine (AES) in children with epilepsy.

Antieplepsirine (AES) is a new antiepileptic drug (AED) which was originally extracted from a Chinese folk remedy, and is now chemically characterized and synthesized. Its chemical structure is different from those of other available AEDs. Animal experiments involving AES demonstrated significant antiepileptic activity. Only a few clinical studies of AES with open trial have been resorted, none of which were on children. A 6.5 month, add-on, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, cross-over study on AES (10 mg/kg per day) was conducted on epileptic children (aged 1-14 years) refractory to treatment with standard AEDs. The seizure frequency was recorded, and the blood levels of AES and other co-medicated AEDs (phenobarbital, phenytoin, carbamazepine and valproate) were determined. Although not planned, patients or parents were allowed to refuse to cross-over to the alternate therapy. The results were compared to the children who crossed-over as well as for the entire group during the first 3 months of randomized treatment. A total of 58 children entered, but only 34/58 children completed the cross-over study. The 24 children whose parents refused to let them be crossed-over continued the original study treatment (AES or placebo) for the entire 6 months. There was no statistically significant difference in seizure control when the entire group of 58 patients was compared to a parallel study group for the first 3 months of therapy (P = 0.178). There was a significant difference (P<0.01) in seizure control between AES and placebo treatment for the 34 patients who completed the entire cross-over study. No significant changes were seen in the blood level of other AEDs, and no serious acute side effects were observed. The results of the present study indicate the efficacy of AES for epileptic children with refractory seizures.