Lorcaserin shows promising results for treatment of Dravet syndrome

Scientists from the University of California, San Francisco (CA, USA) and the University of Colorado (CO, USA), have successfully tested a drug discovered in a genetic zebrafish model of epilepsy in a small pediatric clinical trial. The study, published in the journal Brain, builds on earlier work by this research group, in which they reported that the compound clemizole decreased seizure activity in zebrafish, probably through its action on the serotonin system. Vicky Whittemore, program director at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (the study funders), discussed the results: “This is the first time that scientists have taken...