Valnoctamide

 ( Carboxamides ) 

Valnoctamide (INN, USAN) has been used in France as a sedative-hypnotic since 1964. It is a structural isomer of valpromide, a valproic acid prodrug; unlike valpromide, however, valnoctamide is not transformed into its acid, valnoctic acid, in vivo.

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Indications In addition to being a sedative, valnoctamide has been investigated for use in epilepsy.

It was studied for neuropathic pain in 2005 by Winkler et al., with good results: it had minimal effects on motor coordination and alertness at effective doses, and appeared to be equally effective as gabapentin.

RH Belmaker, Yuly Bersudsky and Alex Mishory started a clinical trial of valnoctamide for prophylaxis of mania in lieu of the much more teratogenic valproic acid or its salts.

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Side effects The side effects of valnoctamide are mostly minor and include somnolence and the slight motor impairments mentioned above.

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Interactions Valnoctamide is known to increase through inhibition of epoxide hydrolase the serum levels of carbamazepine-10,11-epoxide, the metabolite of carbamazepine, sometimes to toxic levels.

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Chemistry Valnoctamide is a racemic compound with four stereoisomers, all of which were shown to be more effective than valproic acid in animal models of epilepsy and one of which (2 S,3 S-valnoctamide) was considered to be a good candidate by Isoherranen, et al. for an anticonvulsant in August 2003.

Butabarbital can be hydrolyzed to Valnoctamide.

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