Tranquilizer/Anxiolytics: Gabapentin

Gabapentin is licensed for the treatment of partial epilepsies with or without secondary generalization and the treatment of neuropathic pain of different origins. In addition, there is a considerable off-label use of gabapentin in other neurological and psychiatric disorders, including anxiety disorders and alcohol use disorder. Gabapentin was conceived as a GABA analogue that can pass the blood-brain barrier, but its mechanism of action is different. Gabapentin has little protein binding, undergoes almost no metabolism and is unchanged renally excreted. By this, it has little interaction potential with other medication. Gabapentin is usually well tolerated and shows low toxicity by itself. More recently, however, awareness grew of the abuse potential of gabapentin, especially in combination with opioid, causing numerous fatalities. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.