Teratogenic Effects of Third-Generation Antiepileptic Drug, Pregabalin: An In vivo Study

In the recent past, many third-generation antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) including Pregabalin (PGB) were launched for the treatment of diverse forms of epilepsy with better efficacy and safety profile than first-and-second-generation AEDs, but their teratogenic safety has not been established so far.

The present study has been undertaken to evaluate the reproductive and teratogenic potential (external and skeletal) of a novel and third generation AED, PGB in pregnant albino rats.

In this study, pregnant subjects were exposed to clinically relevant doses (41, 82 and 123 mg) of PGB from gestation days 6-20, and sacrificed on GD-21, and their fetuses were collected and examined to identify the birth defects and skeletal anomalies.

This study revealed that prenatal exposure to PGB induced dose-dependent substantial fetal resorptions, litter size, fetal length and weight; and variety of minor external and internal malformations in fetuses predominant with limbs, tail, eyes, abdomen including hemorrhages, and poor skeletal ossification.

Thus, PGB was found to be teratogenic in rats at equivalent therapeutic doses, hence precaution should be taken before prescribing PGB to pregnant women with epilepsy.