Anticonvulsant

Anticonvulsant

The anticonvulsants (also commonly known as antiepileptic drugs) are a diverse group of pharmaceuticals used in the treatment of epileptic seizures. Anticonvulsants are also increasingly being used in the treatment of bipolar disorder, since many seem to act as mood stabilizers, and for the treatment of neuropathic pain. The goal of an anticonvulsant is to suppress the rapid and excessive firing of neurons that start a seizure. Failing this, an effective anticonvulsant would prevent the spread of the seizure within the brain and offer protection against possible excitotoxic effects, that may result in brain damage. Some studies have cited that anticonvulsants themselves are linked to lowered IQ in children. However these adverse effects must be balanced against the significant risk epileptiform seizures pose to children and the distinct possibility of death and devastating neurological sequela secondary to seizures. Anticonvulsants are more accurately called antiepileptic drugs (abbreviated "AEDs"), and are sometimes referred to as antiseizure drugs. While the term 'anticonvulsant' is a fair description of AEDs, the use of this term tends to lead to confusion between epilepsy and non-epileptic convulsions. Convulsive seizures non-epileptic seizures are quite common, and these types of seizures do not respond to antiepileptic drugs. In epilepsy, an area of the cortex is typically hyper-irritable. This condition can often be confirmed by completing a diagnostic EEG. Antiepileptic drugs function to help reduce this area of irritability and thus prevent epileptiform seizures.

The major molecular targets of marketed anticonvulsant drugs are voltage-gated sodium channels and components of the GABA system, including GABA_A receptors, the GAT-1 GABA transporter, and GABA transaminase. Additional targets include voltage-gated calcium channels, SV2A, and α2δ. The drug class was the US's 5th-best-selling in 2007.

Some anticonvulsants have shown antiepileptogenic effects in animal models of epilepsy. That is, they either prevent the expected development of epilepsy or can halt or reverse the progression of epilepsy. However, no drug has been shown to prevent epileptogenesis (the development of epilepsy after an injury such as a head injury) in human trials.