FDA Drug Safety Communication: Children born to mothers who took Valproate products while pregnant may have impaired cognitive development

Depakote or sodium valproate are histone deacetylase inhibitors. The reasons for their undeniable effectiveness in epilepsy or bipolar disorder are not clearly understood, but histones play a crucial role in DNA packaging and this would explain the teratogenic and longer term effects of these compounds.

Bipolar disorder genes risk factors and pathways :