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Investigating the potential of the anti-epileptic drug imepitoin as a treatment for co-morbid anxiety in dogs with idiopathic epilepsy

BACKGROUND: Behavioural changes associated with idiopathic epilepsy (IE) have been identified in dogs, with fear and anxiety-related problems seen in both drug-naïve dogs and dogs treated with anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs). Treating anxiety-related behaviour in dogs with IE may be challenging, as seiz...

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Autores principales: Packer, Rowena M. A., De Risio, Luisa, Volk, Holger A.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5383962/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28388948
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12917-017-1000-0
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author Packer, Rowena M. A.
De Risio, Luisa
Volk, Holger A.
author_facet Packer, Rowena M. A.
De Risio, Luisa
Volk, Holger A.
author_sort Packer, Rowena M. A.
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Behavioural changes associated with idiopathic epilepsy (IE) have been identified in dogs, with fear and anxiety-related problems seen in both drug-naïve dogs and dogs treated with anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs). Treating anxiety-related behaviour in dogs with IE may be challenging, as seizures are a contraindication for many conventional anxiolytic drugs. In addition, many dogs with IE are already treated with AEDs to reduce their seizure frequency, which may have negative effects if used in polytherapy. Imepitoin is low-affinity partial agonist at the benzodiazepine (BDZ) site of the GABA(A) receptor, and has been demonstrated to have both anticonvulsant and anxiolytic effects in laboratory rodents. Imepitoin has been developed for the treatment of IE in dogs, with demonstrated anticonvulsant effects and high tolerability and safety. To date, imepitoin’s potential to reduce anxiety in dogs with IE has not been investigated. An online survey was conducted to investigate the effect of imepitoin on fear and anxiety-related behaviours in dogs with IE. Eighty-five valid responses were received from owners of dogs with IE currently treated with imepitoin. Anxiety-related behaviour was quantified before and during imepitoin treatment using a validated questionnaire tool (C-BARQ). RESULTS: No differences were observed in the five fear/anxiety-related measures between the two time periods (before vs. during treatment) for dog directed fear, stranger directed fear, non-social fear, pain sensitivity and separation related behaviour. A median 45% reduction in seizure frequency/month was observed following imepitoin treatment; however, imepitoin did not appear effective in reducing seizure frequency in a minority of cases. Polyphagia was the most common chronic side effect, and more side effects were reported in polytherapy cases. CONCLUSIONS: Imepitoin does not appear to improve anxiety-related behaviour in dogs with IE treated with this medication for its anti-epileptic effects. Investigating the effects of imepitoin upon the behaviour of dogs with recognised behavioural anxiety-related problems (e.g. specific fears and phobias, separation related behaviours), in both healthy dogs and dogs with epilepsy is required to further explore any potential anxiolytic effects of this medication.
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spelling pubmed-53839622017-04-10 Investigating the potential of the anti-epileptic drug imepitoin as a treatment for co-morbid anxiety in dogs with idiopathic epilepsy Packer, Rowena M. A. De Risio, Luisa Volk, Holger A. BMC Vet Res Research Article BACKGROUND: Behavioural changes associated with idiopathic epilepsy (IE) have been identified in dogs, with fear and anxiety-related problems seen in both drug-naïve dogs and dogs treated with anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs). Treating anxiety-related behaviour in dogs with IE may be challenging, as seizures are a contraindication for many conventional anxiolytic drugs. In addition, many dogs with IE are already treated with AEDs to reduce their seizure frequency, which may have negative effects if used in polytherapy. Imepitoin is low-affinity partial agonist at the benzodiazepine (BDZ) site of the GABA(A) receptor, and has been demonstrated to have both anticonvulsant and anxiolytic effects in laboratory rodents. Imepitoin has been developed for the treatment of IE in dogs, with demonstrated anticonvulsant effects and high tolerability and safety. To date, imepitoin’s potential to reduce anxiety in dogs with IE has not been investigated. An online survey was conducted to investigate the effect of imepitoin on fear and anxiety-related behaviours in dogs with IE. Eighty-five valid responses were received from owners of dogs with IE currently treated with imepitoin. Anxiety-related behaviour was quantified before and during imepitoin treatment using a validated questionnaire tool (C-BARQ). RESULTS: No differences were observed in the five fear/anxiety-related measures between the two time periods (before vs. during treatment) for dog directed fear, stranger directed fear, non-social fear, pain sensitivity and separation related behaviour. A median 45% reduction in seizure frequency/month was observed following imepitoin treatment; however, imepitoin did not appear effective in reducing seizure frequency in a minority of cases. Polyphagia was the most common chronic side effect, and more side effects were reported in polytherapy cases. CONCLUSIONS: Imepitoin does not appear to improve anxiety-related behaviour in dogs with IE treated with this medication for its anti-epileptic effects. Investigating the effects of imepitoin upon the behaviour of dogs with recognised behavioural anxiety-related problems (e.g. specific fears and phobias, separation related behaviours), in both healthy dogs and dogs with epilepsy is required to further explore any potential anxiolytic effects of this medication. BioMed Central 2017-04-07 /pmc/articles/PMC5383962/ /pubmed/28388948 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12917-017-1000-0 Text en © The Author(s). 2017 Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
spellingShingle Research Article
Packer, Rowena M. A.
De Risio, Luisa
Volk, Holger A.
Investigating the potential of the anti-epileptic drug imepitoin as a treatment for co-morbid anxiety in dogs with idiopathic epilepsy
title Investigating the potential of the anti-epileptic drug imepitoin as a treatment for co-morbid anxiety in dogs with idiopathic epilepsy
title_full Investigating the potential of the anti-epileptic drug imepitoin as a treatment for co-morbid anxiety in dogs with idiopathic epilepsy
title_fullStr Investigating the potential of the anti-epileptic drug imepitoin as a treatment for co-morbid anxiety in dogs with idiopathic epilepsy
title_full_unstemmed Investigating the potential of the anti-epileptic drug imepitoin as a treatment for co-morbid anxiety in dogs with idiopathic epilepsy
title_short Investigating the potential of the anti-epileptic drug imepitoin as a treatment for co-morbid anxiety in dogs with idiopathic epilepsy
title_sort investigating the potential of the anti-epileptic drug imepitoin as a treatment for co-morbid anxiety in dogs with idiopathic epilepsy
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5383962/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28388948
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12917-017-1000-0
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