Erath Johannes Roland, Nessler Jasmin Nicole, Riese Franziska, Hünerfauth Enrice, Rohn Karl, Tipold Andrea
Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, University of Veterinary Medicine, Hanover, Germany.
Institute for Biometry, Epidemiology and Information Processing, University of Veterinary Medicine, Hanover, Germany.
Front Vet Sci. 2020 Apr 3;7:169. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2020.00169. eCollection 2020.
In veterinary medicine levetiracetam (LEV) is a well-tolerated antiepileptic drug (AED) with only mild to moderate side effects. Behavioral changes are rarely reported in animals. In contrast, in human medicine the impact of LEV on behavior has frequently been described. Since in the Clinic for Small Animals at the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover single canine patients were observed with behavioral abnormalities after LEV treatment, it was hypothesized that levetiracetam induces behavioral changes or causes an intensifying of pre-existing behavioral abnormalities in dogs with epileptic seizures. This monocentric retrospective study evaluated the incidence of behavioral changes in epileptic dogs treated with the antiepileptic drug LEV based on information obtained in a questionnaire completed by dog owners. Eighty-four client-owned dogs with recurrent seizures receiving LEV as monotherapy, add on treatment or pulse therapy met inclusion criteria. Approximately half of the dogs in the study population were reported to have preexisting behavioral changes before treatment with LEV, and some of these dogs were reported to experience a worsening of behavioral changes (14/44) or the emergence of new behaviors after initiation of LEV therapy (4/44). One quarter of the dogs without pre-existing behavioral abnormalities developed behavioral changes associated with the administration of LEV (10/40). Based on these results, the authors conclude that behavioral changes can occur in dogs being administered LEV, and this should be taken into consideration when discussing treatment options with owners.
在兽医学中，左乙拉西坦（LEV）是一种耐受性良好的抗癫痫药物（AED），副作用仅为轻度至中度。动物中很少报告有行为变化。相比之下，在人类医学中，左乙拉西坦对行为的影响经常被描述。由于在汉诺威兽医学院小动物临床中观察到单只犬类患者在接受左乙拉西坦治疗后出现行为异常，因此推测左乙拉西坦会诱发行为变化或导致癫痫发作犬类中已有的行为异常加剧。这项单中心回顾性研究基于狗主人填写的问卷中获得的信息，评估了接受抗癫痫药物左乙拉西坦治疗的癫痫犬行为变化的发生率。84只接受左乙拉西坦单一疗法、联合治疗或脉冲治疗且有反复发作癫痫的客户拥有的犬符合纳入标准。据报告，研究群体中约一半的犬在接受左乙拉西坦治疗前就已有行为变化，其中一些犬在开始左乙拉西坦治疗后行为变化恶化（14/44）或出现新行为（4/44）。四分之一没有先前行为异常的犬在接受左乙拉西坦治疗后出现了与用药相关的行为变化（10/40）。基于这些结果，作者得出结论，接受左乙拉西坦治疗的犬可能会出现行为变化，在与主人讨论治疗方案时应考虑到这一点。
