Fenofibrate Added To Seizure Medicines May Cut Seizures

Source: Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology

Summary

This study tested whether fenofibrate, a drug usually used to lower blood fats, could help people with active epilepsy when added to their usual seizure medicines. It was a 6-month, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial at one center. The study included 80 people with epilepsy who had at least 2 seizures in the previous 3 months even though they were already taking at least 2 anti-seizure medicines. Half received fenofibrate once a day, and half received a placebo.

The main finding was that people taking fenofibrate had fewer seizures over time than those taking placebo. About 60% of the fenofibrate group had their seizure rate cut by at least half, compared with 22.5% in the placebo group. The drug was generally well tolerated, and no serious side effects were reported. Blood tests linked to epilepsy did not change much between groups, except for one measure of antioxidant activity, which improved with fenofibrate.

These results suggest that fenofibrate may help reduce seizures in some people whose epilepsy is still active despite multiple medicines. That matters because this group often has limited treatment options. Still, the study was small, lasted only 6 months, and was done at a single center, so the results need to be confirmed in larger studies before firm conclusions can be made.

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