The epilepsy medication sodium valproate is linked to developmental problems in fetuses, but lab studies may now have found a way to prevent this
By James Woodford
3 October 2024
Sodium valproate is an effective epilepsy drug, but it isn’t recommended to take during pregnancy
Miljan Zivkovic/Shutterstock
The drug rapamycin could prevent the epilepsy medication sodium valproate from causing developmental problems during pregnancy.
Sodium valproate is used to treat epilepsy, bipolar disorder and sometimes migraines. Although effective, it isn’t recommended during pregnancy because it can cause congenital conditions such as spina bifida, as well as lifelong learning difficulties.
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Giovanni Pietrogrande at the University of Queensland in Australia and his colleagues wanted to understand why sodium valproate can have such effects. So they used stem cells to create mini spinal cords, called organoids, in the laboratory. These mimic the spines of fetuses in the early weeks of pregnancy.
When the organoids were exposed to sodium valproate, their cells changed in ways that can be linked to the risk of a congenital condition.
Searching for why this might be, the team found that activity in one of the cells’ signalling pathways, called mTOR, indicated that they were going through senescence. This is a process where cells stop multiplying but don’t die off, and instead continue to release chemicals that can cause inflammation.