Medicine Description
Indication For treatment and management of seizure disorders mania and prophylactic treatment of migraine headache In epileptics valproic acid is used to control absence seizures tonicclonic seizures grand mal complex partial seizures and the seizures associated with LennoxGastaut syndrome Mechanism of action Valproic Acid dissociates to the valproate ion in the gastrointestinal tract and then binds to and inhibits GABA transaminase The drugs anticonvulsant activity may be related to increased brain concentrations of gammaaminobutyric acid GABA an inhibitory neurotransmitter in the CNS by inhibiting enzymes that catabolize GABA or block the reuptake of GABA into glia and nerve endings Valproic Acid may also work by suppressing repetitive neuronal firing through inhibition of voltagesensitive sodium channels It is also a histone deacetylase inhibitor Valproic acid has also been shown to be an inhibitor of an enzyme called histone deacetylase 1 HDAC1