Seizure (2006) 15, 112 116 www.elsevier.com/locate/yseiz Evidence for a rapid action of levetiracetam compared to topiramate in refractory partial epilepsy Luigi M. Specchio a,e, *, Giovanni Boero b,e, Nicola Specchio b,e,f, Giusi De Agazio b,e, Alessia De Palo b,e, Marina de Tommaso b,e, Ettore Beghi c,d, Angela La Neve b,e a Department of Medical and Occupational Sciences, Section of Clinic of the Nervous System Diseases, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy b Department of Neurological and Psychiatric Sciences, Section of 1st Neurologic Clinic, University of Bari, Bari, Italy c Epilepsy Centre, San Gerardo Hospital, Monza, Milano, Italy d Institute for Pharmacological Research Mario Negri, Milano, Italy e CINEDIV: Centro Interuniversitario per lo Studio dell Epilessia e dei Disturbi della Vigilanza, Universities of Foggia and Bari, Italy f Division of Neurology, Bambino Gesù Children s Hospital, Roma, Italy Received 7 June 2004; received in revised form 9 November 2005; accepted 25 November 2005 KEYWORDS Refractory partial epilepsy; Levetiracetam; Topiramate; Rapid onset action; Seizure-free days Summary The objective of this observational study was to compare the efficacy of levetiracetam and topiramate during the first 15 days of add-on treatment in adults with refractory partial epilepsy. Two cohorts of patients with 3 simple or complex partial seizures with or without secondary generalisation per month over an 8-week baseline period received levetiracetam or topiramate in two distinct phases, in addition to standard antiepileptic treatment. During the first 15 days of the therapy, levetiracetam was added at the dosage of 250 mg b.i.d. or topiramate at 25 mg o.i.d. Efficacy parameters included number of seizure-free days (SFDs), mean and percent reduction in seizure frequency (in general and by type), and number of seizure-free patients in the first 15 days of treatment compared to last 15 days of the baseline period. Sixty-one patients received levetiracetam and 61 topiramate. The general characteristics of the two treatment groups were similar. The total number of SFDs during * Correspondence to: Clinica delle Malattie del Sistema Nervoso, Ospedali Riuniti, Via Luigi Pinto, 71100 Foggia, Italy. Tel.: +39 0881 732553; fax: +39 0881 747884. E-mail addresses: lspecchio@ospedaliriunitifoggia.it, lmsc70@hotmail.com (L.M. Specchio). 1059-1311/$ see front matter # 2006 British Epilepsy Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.seizure.2005.11.006
Evidence for a rapid action of levetiracetam compared to topiramate 113 15 days before treatment was 637 with levetiracetam and 621 with topiramate; in the 15-day evaluation period the SFDs increased to 748 (17.4%) and 668 (7.6%), respectively (ANOVA, p < 0.05). Twenty-six patients (42.6%) taking levetiracetam were seizure free compared to 10 (16.4%) receiving topiramate (chi-square, p = 0.003). This open-label non-controlled study suggests an early efficacy of levetiracetam as add-on therapy in patients with refractory partial epilepsy: these results appear to confirm previous indications of a rapid onset of action and seem to suggest first evaluation of the patient at the dose of 500 mg/day before increasing to the considered minimum standard dose of 1000 mg/day, as some patients could respond to the starting dose. # 2006 British Epilepsy Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Introduction Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders, affecting up to 1% of the worldwide population. 1 Despite the large number of antiepileptic drugs available, about 30% of patients still have uncontrolled epilepsy. 2 Levetiracetam is a novel antiepileptic drug with a unique preclinical profile, 3 a favourable pharmacokinetic profile 4 but an as yet unclear mechanism of action, 5 although a brain-binding site in synaptic vesicle protein SV2A has been recently proposed. 6 Levetiracetam has a high therapeutic index and a fairly wide safety margin compared with other antiepileptic drugs. 7 Results from phase II clinical trials evaluating levetiracetam as add-on therapy in patients with refractory partial and/or secondary generalized seizures demonstrated that doses up to 4000 mg/day are effective and well tolerated. 8,9 The efficacy and tolerability of levetiracetam were confirmed in phase III placebo-controlled studies, in which patients with refractory partial epilepsy received the drug at doses of 1000, 2000, or 3000 mg/day as adjunctive or single treatment. 10 12 Analysis of pooled data showed a significant gain in seizurefree days (SFDs) in patients on levetiracetam compared to placebo. 13 Both titration and study periods were included in the analysis. In preclinical studies a significant reduction in weekly seizure frequency was observed over the first 2 weeks of the titration period in patients taking levetiracetam, suggesting a fast clinical effect of the drug since the initial dose. 12,14 Further investigation on the rapid onset of action during the titration phase in three clinical trials showed levetiracetam (1000 mg/day) significantly increasing the mean proportion of seizure-free days 1, 2 and 3 days after the first dose intake. 15 We conducted an observational study to investigate the seizure outcome during the first 15 days at the initial dose of the add-on treatment with levetiracetam as compared to topiramate in adult patients affected by refractory partial epilepsy. Methods Study design This was a single centre, prospective, observational, add-on study. The study was conducted in two distinct phases: (a) baseline: 8-week period; (b) study phase: 15-day add-on therapy with levetiracetam or topiramate, each given as part of a separate prospective observational study. As topiramate was available in the market before levetiracetam, all topiramate patients were recruited first. The titration policy was part of the usual management of the two drugs in the centre s clinical practice (see below). Seizure counts were obtained from patients diaries according to the centre s standard policy. Levetiracetam was administered at a dose of 250 mg b.i.d., and topiramate 25 mg in single dose (patients taking an enzyme-inducing drug had as first dose of topiramate 50 mg in single dose). During each phase concomitant antiepileptic drug (AED) regimens remained unchanged; no other medications were allowed during the study. Patients were seen in three separate occasions: baseline visit (8 weeks before the beginning of treatment), recruitment visit (beginning of treatment), final visit (15 days after the beginning of treatment). A detailed record of seizures and of any adverse events was available for all patients during baseline and study periods. Study population Patients aged 16 60 years with refractory partial epilepsy including simple and complex partial seizures with or without secondary generalisation were eligible. To be selected, patients had to have a mean monthly seizure frequency 3 during the baseline period; their treatment could include up to two other AEDs. Patients were excluded if they had a progressive neurological disease, severe psychiatric disorder,
114 L.M. Specchio et al. medical, hepatic or renal disease, or laboratory abnormalities. Pregnant or lactating women were also excluded. Efficacy and tolerability assessment Efficacy was assessed by three parameters evaluated in two matched periods: the 15-day treatment phase and the 15-day period before starting add-on treatment: a) Total number of seizure-free days; b) Mean and percent reduction in seizure frequency, in general and by seizure type; c) Number of seizure-free patients. A seizure-free day (SFD) was defined as a day without any seizures. Markowitz et al. 16 have argued that this parameter includes both seizure frequency and seizure severity and best reflects the patient s quality of life. Tolerability was assessed by recording adverse events, physical and neurological examination. Statistical analysis Student s t-test, Wilcoxon s signed-rank test, chisquare test for heterogeneity and trend (Cochran- Mantel-Haenszel), and ANOVA (for repeated measures) were used where appropriate. Differences between treatment groups were expressed as means Table 1 Patients characteristics Levetiracetam Topiramate Number of patients 61 61 Age (years), mean S.D. (range) 39.8 12.8 (17 71) 38.9 10.6 (19 72) Sex Female 37 37 Male 24 24 Epilepsy duration (years), mean S.D. 27.0 12.4 28.1 10.6 Age at onset (years), median (range) 8 (0 59) 8 (0 50) Type of epilepsy Cryptogenic 30 26 Remote symptomatic 31 35 Seizure type Partial 45 39 Secondary generalized 14 21 Number of AEDs mean (range)^ 4.56 (2 9) 3.58 (2 9) Number of AEDs at entry 1 33 33 2 28 28 CBZ 38 41 LTG 14 17 TPM 9 VPA 7 8 PHT 7 7 PB 6 5 CLB 4 FBM 2 1 GBP 1 6 OXC 1 VGB 1 1 TGB 1 CNP 1 Differences of all patient characteristics are not significant at Student t-test (age, epilepsy duration, number of AEDs), Wilcoxon s signed-rank test (age at onset, number of seizures in previous 15 days), chi-square test (sex, type of epilepsy, seizure type, number AEDs at entry). S.D. = standard deviation; ^ Overall (previous and current). CBZ = carbamazepine; LTG = lamotrigine; TPM = topiramate; VPA = valproate; PHT = phenytoin; CLB = clobazam; FBM = felbamate; GBP = gabapentin; OXC = oxcarbazepine; VGB = vigabatrin; TGB = tiagabine; CNP = clonazepam.
Evidence for a rapid action of levetiracetam compared to topiramate 115 Table 2 Cumulative and mean number of seizures by type and treatment, comparing the two 15-day periods before and after treatment start Levetiracetam (n = 61) Topiramate (n = 61) P-value Before After Percent difference Before After Percent difference Total number 787 624 20.7 687 576 16.2 0.47 * of sz Partial 744 602 19.1 581 503 13.4 0.41 * PSG 43 22 48.8 106 73 31.1 0.33 * Mean number of sz (S.D.) Total 12.9 (34.0) 10.2 (31.8) 11.3 (25.5) 9.4 (21.5) 0.81 ** Partial 13.2 (35.5) 10.4 (32.6) 13.4 (30.1) 11.3 (24.9) 0.94 ** PSG 4.2 (5.0) 2.9 (4.6) 1.4 (2.2) 0.7 (1.7) 0.01 ** Sz = seizures; PSG = partial secondary generalized; S.D. = standard deviation. * Chi-square. ** ANOVA (repeated measures). with standard deviations (S.D.), in percent or, where indicated, as odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). The association between seizure freedom and study drug over the 15 days was also assessed using a multivariate analysis model (logistic regression), adjusting for age, sex, age at onset of seizures, epilepsy duration, number of drugs at admission and seizures in the preceding 15 days. Results A total of 122 patients (74 women, 48 men) were enrolled; 61 patients in the levetiracetam group and 61 in the topiramate group. Demographic and clinical features did not differ between the two groups (Table 1). All patients had long-lasting epilepsy, had received 2 9 AEDs, and had high seizure frequency at the baseline visit. SFDs were 637 before treatment and 748 after treatment with levetiracetam (difference 17.4%) and 621 before treatment and 668 after treatment with topiramate (difference 7.6%) (chi-square test, p = 0.26). The mean (S.D.) number of SFDs increased from 10.4 (4.5) to 12.3 (4.1) with levetiracetam and from 10.2 (4.2) to 10.9 (4.4) with topiramate (ANOVA, p = 0.29). During the 15 days before the beginning of the new treatment, the median number of seizure was 4 (range 0 239) in the levetiracetam group and 5 (range 0 182) in the topiramate group (Wilcoxon s signed-rank test, p = 0.38). During the 15-day add-on treatment the median number of seizure was, respectively, 1 (range 0 177) and 3 (range 0 144) (Wilcoxon s signed-rank test, p = 0.01). The cumulative and mean number of seizures varied significantly by type, but, except for secondary generalized seizures, non-significant differences were found when comparing the two treatments within each seizure category (Table 2). Twenty-six patients (42.6%) receiving levetiracetam were seizure-free compared to 10 (16.4%) receiving topiramate (chi-square test, p = 0.003). The numbers for partial seizures were 17 (37.8%) versus 6 (15.4%) (chi-square test, p = 0.02) and those for secondary generalized seizures were 8 (50.0%) versus 7 (29.2%) (chi-square test, p = 0.16). Logistic regression analysis showed that, over the initial 15-day treatment period, treatment with levetiracetam resulted in a larger number of seizure-free patients than treatment with topiramate (OR: 3.6; 95% CI: 1.5 8.8). Adverse events were reported by nine patients taking levetiracetam (somnolence 3, nervousness 3, nausea 1, insomnia 1, dizziness 1) and in eight patients taking topiramate (dizziness 2, nervousness 2, somnolence 2, paresthesia 1, diplopia 1). In all patients the adverse events were mild and transient and it was not necessary to stop the treatment. Discussion The possibility of a rapid onset of action of levetiracetam has been suggested in open-label and placebo-controlled studies, 10 12 and in the analysis of the pooled data from placebo-controlled studies. 14 Our study confirmed the rapid onset of action of levetiracetam compared to topiramate, as adjunctive therapy in patients with drug resistant partial epilepsy seen in clinical practice. The results of the study indicate that adjunctive therapy with levetiracetam 500 mg/day appears more effective than topiramate 25 mg/day in pro-
116 L.M. Specchio et al. ducing more seizure-free days, with a higher chance of seizure freedom, and reducing seizure frequency during the first 15 days of treatment. SFDs increased by 17.4% in the levetiracetam group and by 7.6% in the topiramate group; seizure-free patients were 42.6% and 16.4%, respectively. We have no explanation of the rapid onset on action of levetiracetam. Even if our study conclusion is that the treatment with levetiracetam could be effective from the starting dose, the study has several limitations: - the non-randomized, observational study design implies that this can only be an exploratory comparison of the efficacy of the two drugs; the majority of the patients treated with levetiracetam were different from those taking topiramate and the drugs were given in different periods; - the effects of the daily doses used here, which are only the starting doses, may not apply to the maintenance doses of the two drugs and to any other dose changes, as usually done in clinical practice. Rapid onset of action does not indicate per se long-term levetiracetam superiority. Levetiracetam and topiramate showed a good tolerability profile in the first 15 days of treatment as adverse events were mild and transient and no patients discontinued the treatment. In conclusion, our results appear to confirm previous indications of a rapid onset of action of levetiracetam and seem to suggest a first evaluation of the patient at the dose of 500 mg/day before increasing to the minimum optimised dose of 1000 mg/day, as some patients could respond to the starting dose. This could be also relevant in all cases for which a rapid action is required by particularly severe clinical conditions. References 1. Kotsopoulos IA, van Merode T, Kessels FG, de Krom MC, Knottnerus JA. Systematic review and meta-analysis of incidence studies of epilepsy and unprovoked seizures. Epilepsia 2002;43:1402 9. 2. Cascino GD. Intractable partial epilepsy: evaluation and treatment. Mayo Clin Proc 1990;65:1578 86. 3. Klitgaard H, Matagne A, Gobert J, Wulfert E. Evidence for a unique profile of levetiracetam in rodent models of seizures and epilepsy. Eur J Pharmacol 1998;353:191 206. 4. Patsalos PN. Pharmacokinetic profile of levetiracetam: toward ideal characteristics. Pharmacol Ther 2000;85:77 85. 5. Margineanu DG, Klitgaard H. Levetiracetam: mechanisms of action. In: Levy RH, Mattson RH, Meldrum BS, Perucca E, editors. Antiepileptic drugs, 5th edition. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2002. p. 419 27. 6. Lynch BA, Lambeng N, Nocka K, Kensel-Hammes P, Bajjalieh SM, Matagne A, et al. The synaptic vesicle protein SV A is the binding site for the antiepileptic drug levetiracetam. PNAS 2004;101:9861 6. 7. LaRoche SM, Helmers SL. The new antiepileptic drugs. Scientific review. J Am Med Assoc 2004;291:605 14. 8. Betts T, Waegemans T, Crawford P. A multicentre, doubleblind, randomized, parallel group study to evaluate the tolerability and efficacy of two oral doses of levetiracetam, 2000 mg daily and 4000 mg daily, without titration in patients with refractory epilepsy. Seizure 2000;9:80 7. 9. Grant R, Shorvon SD. Efficacy and tolerability of 4000 mg/day of levetiracetam as add-on therapy in patients with refractory epilepsy. Epilepsy Res 2000;42:89 95. 10. Ben-Menachem E, Falter U. Efficacy and tolerability of levetiracetam 3000 mg/d in patients with refractory partial seizures: a multicenter, double-blind, responder-selected study evaluating monotherapy. European Levetiracetam Study Group. Epilepsia 2000;41:1276 83. 11. Cereghino JJ, Biton V, Abou-Khalil B, Dreifuss F, Gauer LJ, Leppik I. Levetiracetam for partial seizures: results of a double-blind, randomized clinical trial. Neurology 2000;55:236 42. 12. Shorvon SD, Lowenthal A, Janz D, Bielen E, Loiseau P. Multicenter double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of levetiracetam as add-on therapy in patients with refractory partial seizures. European Levetiracetam Study Group. Epilepsia 2000;41:1179 86. 13. Leppik I, Morrell M, Godfroid P, Arrigo C. Seizure-free days observed in randomized placebo-controlled add-on trials wuth levetiracetam in partial epilepsy. Epilepsia 2003;44: 1350 2. 14. French JA, Privitera M, Arrigo C, Verdru P, et al. Rapid onset of action of levetiracetam in refractory epileptic patients. Neurology 2000;54(Suppl. 3):A83. [Abstract]. 15. French J, Arrigo C. Rapid onset of action of levetiracetam in refractory epilepsy patients. Epilepsia 2005;46:324 6. 16. Markowitz MA, Mauskopf JA, Halpern MT. Cost-effectiveness model of adjunctive lamotrigine for the treatment of epilepsy. Neurology 1998;51:1026 33.