Analagesic Effect of Levetiracetam in Rat Models of Pain

Background: Antiepileptic drugs are widely used to treat multiple non-epileptic disorders such as neuropathic and inflammatory pain, migraine, essential tremors and psychiatric disorders. Levetiracetam is a novel antiepileptic drug with a broad spectrum of anticonvulsant activity with high safety margin. We evaluated the analgesic effect of levetiracetam in inflammatory induced hyperalgesia in albino rats. Methods: In this study male Wister rats weighing between 200-250 grams were taken and divided into 5 groups with 6 rats in each group. Levetiracetam was administered orally at a dose of 50mg/kg, 100 mg/kg, 200mg/kg and was compared with the control group which received distill water and the standard drug Aspirin at a dose of 100mg/kg. Hyperalgesia was induced by hot plate method. Reaction times were measured at 0, 30, 60 and 120 min after drug administration. Results: Levetiracetam at a dose of 100mg/kg after one hour of drug administration showed an increase in the reaction time compared to the saline. However, aspirin showed significant increase in the reaction time as compared to levetiracetam. Conclusion: Levetiracetam showed anti-hyperalgesia in animal model of pain and further study need to be conducted to evaluate the analgesic property.