A drug used to treat epilepsy does not appear to prevent migraine headaches, a study claims.

A US study monitored the effects of oxcarbazepine in a group of 170 men and women who had suffered three to nine migraine attacks within one month.

Half of the group received oxcarbazepine daily, while a placebo was given to the remaining participants over a course of five months.

Researchers found no difference between the oxcarbazepine and placebo groups in the number of migraines they experienced.

Presently, three epilepsy drugs are known to effectively prevent migraine, including topiramate, divalproex and gabapentin, which work to regulate the GABA neurotransmitter.

Oxcarbazepine, by contrast was found to have no apparent activity on GABA.

"The results of this trial do not support preliminary data which had suggested oxcarbazepine was effective in preventing migraine," study author Stephen Silberstein, explained.

"While several epilepsy drugs have been used for decades to prevent migraine, oxcarbazepine did not prevent migraine in this study despite it being shown to be safe and well-tolerated."

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