chemistry

Sultiame

Sultiame is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Sultiame rather than just read about it. In short: Sultiame, or sulthiame, sold under the brand name Ospolot among others, is a sulfonamide and inhibitor of the enzyme carbonic anhydrase which is used as an anticonvulsant in the treatment of epilepsy. In addition to its use as an antiepileptic medication, recent studies showed promise in reducing sleep disordered breathing and other symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

Key takeaways

Sultiame belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Sultiame to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Sultiame from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Sultiame, or sulthiame, sold under the brand name Ospolot among others, is a sulfonamide and inhibitor of the enzyme carbonic anhydrase which is used as an anticonvulsant in the treatment of epilepsy. In addition to its use as an antiepileptic medication, recent studies showed promise in reducing sleep disordered breathing and other symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

Medical uses Historically, sultiame has been used to treat partial seizures. In Australia, it is currently registered for behavioural disorders associated with epilepsy; hyperkinetic behaviour; temporal lobe epilepsy; myoclonic seizures; grand mal attacks; and Jacksonian seizures. In contrast to other sulfonamide drugs, sultiame is devoid of antibacterial activity.

Adverse effects The more common adverse effects are ataxia, paraesthesia of face and limbs, hyperpnoea, dyspnoea, and anorexia. Less common adverse effects include giddiness, rash, Stevens–Johnson syndrome, nausea, weight loss, leukopenia, headache, depression, drooling, increased pain, insomnia, and status epilepticus. Disturbances in calcium and vitamin D metabolism have been occasionally reported after long-term use.

Overdose In overdose, vomiting, hypotension, headache, vertigo, ataxia, metabolic acidosis with hyperpnoea, and catatonic state may occur. There is no specific antidote. It is not known whether dialysis may help in case of overdose.

Interactions Sultiame taken together with primidone may lead to severe side effects, including psychotic reactions. The addition of sulthiame to phenytoin therapy has shown to be followed by a rise in the serum levels of phenytoin. Sultiame may also lead to a rise of phenobarbitone blood levels. Alcohol must not be consumed during treatment.

Chemistry

Synthesis

Sulfanilamide can be reacted with ω-chlorobutylsulfonyl chloride and aqueous sodium carbonate to form the presumed intermediate (middle), which spontaneously cyclizes to give the drug.

History Sultiame was first synthesised in the laboratories of Bayer AG in the mid-1950s and eventually launched as Ospolot in Europe and other markets the early 1960s. It never became a registered drug in the United States. The brand was transferred to Desitin GmbH in 1993 and is sold in several European countries, in Israel, Japan, and Australia. Sultiame became established as a second-line drug for treatment of partial epilepsy in the 1960s and 1970s and was often used in combination with the established anticonvulsant phenytoin. Temporal lobe seizures appeared particularly responsive to sultiame. Doubts subsequently arose as to whether sultiame has intrinsic anticonvulsant properties. After discovering sultiame's ability to raise the blood levels of phenytoin, it was assumed that sultiame would only act in combination with phenytoin. This finding, together with the equivocal results of a study in the US, resulted in a quick decline of sultiame's use. It was only in 1988, that the German child neurologist Hermann Doose discovered its specific effects in benign focal epilepsies of childhood. Today, sulthiame is the drug of choice for benign focal epilepsies of childhood (such as benign rolandic epilepsy) in the German-speaking countries and Israel.

Society and culture

Availability Sultiame is marketed and available in Europe, Israel, Japan, and Australia. European countries in which sultiame is or has been available include the Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Conversely, it has never been registered in the United States.

Research Sultiame is being studied for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), with encouraging preliminary findings.

See also List of investigational sleep apnea drugs

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Sultiame

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Sultiame claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Sultiame before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Sultiame ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Sultiame

In research: Sultiame appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Sultiame in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Sultiame is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Anticonvulsants, Carbonic anhydrase inhibitors, Sulfonamides, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Sultiame outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Sultiame in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Sultiame means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Sultiame out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Sultiame in simple terms?

Why does Sultiame matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Sultiame?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Sultiame.