Published on December 4, 2012 at 12:17 AM
Seizure-induced, cardio-respiratory arrest was significantly reduced by fluvoxamine or sertralinewithin 30-minutes after administration. Paroxetine was not effective until after 24 hours. Susceptibility to audiogenic seizures remained, and susceptibility to seizure-induced cardio-respiratory arrest was observed to occur 24 hours following administration of the trial medications except paroxetine.
Carl L. Faingold, Ph.D., Chairman of the Department of Pharmacology, Southern Illinois University, and lead author of the study, reported that, "The lack of selectivity for blocking the seizure-induced cardio-respiratory response in our study contrasts with the relative selectivity of fluoxetine, which in our previous work has been shown to block this response without affecting seizure severity. The possibility that fluoxetine might prevent SUDEP in patients with uncontrolled seizures should be evaluated."
Source: Southern Illinois University