Beclamide

Drugbox
IUPAC_name = "N"-benzyl-3-chloropropionamide

---

width = 191
CAS_number=501-68-8
ATC_prefix=N03
ATC_suffix=AX30
ATC_supplemental=
PubChem=10391
DrugBank=
chemical_formula =
molecular_weight =
bioavailability=
metabolism =
elimination_half-life=
excretion =
pregnancy_category =
legal_status =
routes_of_administration= Oral

Beclamide (marketed as Chloracon, Hibicon, Posedrine, Nydrane, Seclar, and other names) is a propionate and was used as a sedative and as an anticonvulsant.

Side effects are uncommon but include stomach pain, nervousness, giddiness, skin rash and leukopenia. It is counter-indicated in breast feeding as it is passed in the milk.

Administration is oral, though it has an unpleasant taste. It is quickly absorbed and elimination is renal and complete within 48 hours. Beclamide is presumably metabolized to 3-chloropropanoic acid "in vivo", which binds to the GHB receptor.

It was studied in the 1950s for its anticonvulsant properties, as a treatment for generalised tonic-clonic seizures. It was not effective for absence seizures. It is no longer used as an AED. Interest in the drug resumed in the 1990s for its psychiatric properties as an adjunct in the treatment of schizophrenia.

References

* "The Medical Treatment of Epilepsy" by Stanley R Resor. Published by Marcel Dekker (1991). ISBN 0-8247-8549-5.
* [http://www.biam2.org/www/Sub2516.html Beclamide] (in French)