Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0494475 (tonic-clonic seizure)
 1,319 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Mefloquine represents a promising antimalarial drug against Plasmodium falciparum. It has been related to an increase in seizure frequency in epileptic patients and should not be administered to patients with a history of convulsions, epilepsy in first degree relatives, or serious psychiatric disorders. We report a case of a man from the Ivory Coast complaining of fever, headache and anemia treated with chloroquine and subsequently with mefloquine in the suspicion of malaria, even in the absence of laboratory confirmation. When the patient came to our division, malaria was excluded, but the patient developed two convulsive episodes, respectively 4 and 7 days after the ingestion of the second therapeutic dose of mefloquine. Further investigation was performed; particularly an EEG showed abnormalities compatible with tendency for seizures, diffuse waves and spikes. CSF culture was positive for M. tuberculosis as well as urine, sputum and blood cultures. Anti-HIV antibodies were positive, so the final diagnosis was tuberculosis in HIV infection. As seizures are common signs of cerebral tuberculomas, but not of meningitis it is possible that tubercular meningitis might have enhanced severe neuropsychiatric side effects of mefloquine. Physicians should be aware that treatment with mefloquine with concomitant meningitis could have a risk of development of grand mal seizure.
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PMID:Mefloquine-induced grand mal seizure in tubercular meningitis. 997 35

We describe a patient with immunoglobulin A nephropathy who was diagnosed with progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) and successfully treated with mefloquine, an antimalarial medication. A 67-year-old man with immunoglobulin A nephropathy presented to the hospital emergency room with fever and generalized tonic-clonic seizure. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was positive for John Cunningham virus and brain MRI displayed high signal intensity in the white matter in the right parietal lobe without gadolinium enhancement. Tapering of prednisone did not arrest the disease progression and a new lesion was detected on the cerebellum. Administration of mefloquine stopped lesion progression and resulted in dramatic clinical improvement. The CSF nested PCR for the John Cunningham virus also became negative. In reviewing the literature, mefloquine has had a heterogeneous effect in PML patients, and P-glycoprotein polymorphism and proper dosage could contribute to the various effects seen. Mefloquine may be a favorable treatment option in some patients with PML, and P-glycoprotein polymorphism may play an important role in its efficacy. More large studies in other ethnic groups including polymorphism studies for the gene encoding P-glycoprotein (ABCB1/MDR1) and taking into account various underlying conditions with secondary immunosuppression should be carried out to investigate whether mefloquine is effective for treating PML.
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PMID:Mefloquine improved progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy in a patient with immunoglobulin A nephropathy. 2487 96