General information
Lyrica® (trade name; active ingredient name: pregabalin) is one of the newer antiepileptic drugs and is used for the treatment of This is nerve pain caused by diabetic foot syndrome, shingles (inflammation of the nerve endings caused by herpes viruses) or spinal cord injury.
- Focal epilepsy (seizure) or the
- Combination treatment also for generalized seizures,
- For complementary therapy of generalized anxiety disorders and
- Neuropathic pain
Effect of antiepileptic drugs
All antiepileptic drugs (drugs against seizures) act at different receptors and ion channels. Lyrica® in particular blocks the voltage-dependent calcium channels and thus interrupts repetitive discharges. The channels consist of 4 subunits and mediate the influx of calcium ions into the nerve cell.
This normally leads to the release of various neurotransmitters and the transmission of the action potential via the synapse. Through the binding of Lyrica® to the GABA receptor, inhibitory chloride channels are activated and the actual action of the calcium channels does not occur. This prevents the release of these neurotransmitters:
- Noradrenaline,
- Glutamate and
- Substance P
The simultaneous inhibition of all three substances explains the relatively large field of application.
Glutamate belongs to the messenger substances of the brain and is involved, among other things, in the mediation of nerve stimuli in sensory perception, motor function and memory. Noradrenalin is a neurotransmitter in the body and serves to transmit important information. For example, it increases blood pressure by narrowing the blood vessels.
This happens especially in stressful situations. Substance P, on the other hand, is a nerve messenger substance of pain receptors and pain-conducting nerve fibers. If such a receptor is excited more strongly, this substance releases P. But substance P is also released more frequently in the case of inflammation. When released, the substance causes the blood vessels to expand considerably and increases the permeability of the vessel wall. The sensitivity of pain-conducting nerves in the spinal cord is also increased.
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