New antiepileptic drugs and women

Abstract

Since 1990, sixteen new antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) have been introduced. Most of these new AEDs have only been insufficiently studied with respect to women-specific aspects such as endogenous sex hormones, hormonal contraception, pregnancy, breastfeeding, or menopause. This is of concern because it has been shown for some of the new AEDs that these factors may have a clinically significant impact on their pharmacokinetics and seizure control. Also, new AEDs may affect hormone homeostasis and pass over into breast milk. The best studied of the new AEDs are lamotrigine, levetiracetam and oxcarbazepine. Although gabapentin and pregabalin are even more frequently used (due to their therapeutic effects in nonepileptic conditions), our understanding of these two drugs in relation to women's issues is surprisingly poor. Little to nothing is known about zonisamide, retigabine/ezogabine, lacosamide, perampanel and the other new AEDs. Nevertheless, many small studies and case series have been published on new AEDs and women-specific aspects. This review gives an overview on what is known today.

Keywords: Breastfeeding; Contraception; Menopause; New antiepileptic drugs; Pregnancy; Women.