A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF EFFICACY OF LAMOTRIGINE AND LEVETIRACETAM IN THE CONTINUOUS MAINTENANCE PHASE OF PATIENTS WITH BIPOLAR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER

Author(s): Daryani KK1*, Narendra Kumar Bokade1 and OP Raichandani2

Abstract

Bipolar disorder, or manic-depressive illness (MDI), is one of the most common, severe, and persistent mental illnesses. Bipolar disorder is a serious lifelong struggle and challenge The objective of this study is to evaluate the spectrum of efficacy of Lamotrigine versus Levetiracetam as add on therapy comparatively in patient with bipolar depressive disorder who are inadequately responsive to or intolerant of pharmacotherapy with conventional drugs at Jabalpur and adjoining area. In this 60 days open label, randomized comparative study 60 patients were enrolled, out of which 53 patients were evaluated at the end of the study. Two parallel groups were differentiated by the study medication-Lamotrigine or Levetiracetam-that was administered as an adjunct to existing medications for bipolar depressive disorder (N=60). At baseline and every 15th days Mood symptoms were rated using the Hamilton depression scale. Total 61% patients in Lamotrigine group had shown marked improvement on HAM-D (>50% reduction on day 60) while 33% patients in Levetiracetam group showed this level of improvement. On comparison between these two drugs on the basis of HAM-D the difference was statistically significant (P value for HAM-D < 0.05). The addition of either Lamotrigine or levetiracetam to patients preexisting mood stabilizing regimen was associated with a reduction in the frequency of mood fluctuation. Evidence from this preliminary open-label study suggests that Lamotrigine was more efficacious than Levetiracetam in reducing depressive symptoms in patients presenting with depressive phases of bipolar I and bipolar II disorder.

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