Phenobarbital in Sera of Epileptic Mothers and Their Infants

The phenobarbital (PB) transition from epiletpic mothers to their breast milks and offspring in cases of PB monopharmacy with other antiepileptic drugs was investigated in 26 epileptic mothers and 24 offspring who were taking the breast milk from epileptic mothers. The mother's serum PB concentration in monopharmacy was almost the same in various stages (stage I, with 5 days after the delivery; stage II, 6--10 days after; stage III, 1--2 mothers after; stage IV, 3--5 months after). However, the PB concentrations in polypharmacy were markedly higher than those in monopharmacy. Concerning the PB concentration in breast milk, a significant increase was found in polypharmacy in comparison with monopharmacy only in stage I. On the other hand, the offspring's PB concentration in polypharmacy was markedly higher than that in monopharmacy, particularly in stage I. In another stages, PB concentration in monopharmacy gradually decreased according to the increase of stages. These results indicate that pharmacokinetics of antiepileptic drugs in the perinatal may be considerably different in PB monopharmacy and polypharmacy.