Epilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder disease, and there is an urgent need for the development of novel anticonvulsant drugs. In this study, the anticonvulsant activities and neurotoxicity of 12 cinnamic acid derivatives substituted by fluorine, chlorine, bromine, and trifluoromethyl groups were screened by the maximal electroshock seizure (MES) and rotarod tests (Tox). Three of th...

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ), a thiazide-type diuretic and an antihypertensive drug, on the anticonvulsant activity of numerous antiepileptic drugs (AEDs: carbamazepine--CBZ, phenytoin--PHT, valproate--VPA, phenobarbital--PB, oxcarbazepine--OXC, lamotrigine--LTG and topiramate--TPM). METHODS The effects of HCTZ and AEDs on convu...

The relevance of providing a rapid anticonvulsant monitoring service was assessed over a five year period at a paediatric epilepsy outpatient clinic. Altogether 481 drug assays were performed on 144 patients when considered clinically indicated. Drugs most frequently assayed were carbamazepine and sodium valproate, singly or in combination; sodium valproate, single or in combination; 90% of ass...

Studies of the efficacy of anticonvulsant drugs are difficult to undertake and historically have been of poor quality. Randomised comparisons of drugs are few in number, and have failed to detect significant differences between drugs. This is surprising in view of the strong feelings that many clinicians have about the relative efficacy of the drugs they use. A review of the literature emphasis...

Vitamin A and its derivatives have recently reported to be implicated in synaptic plasticity. The possible effect of vitamin A and its precursor, ?-carotene, on seizure acquisition was tested in PTZ kindling model of epilepsy. Vitamin A and ?-carotene were tested for their ability to 1) suppress seizures (clonic and tonic) and lethality induced by PTZ in PTZ-kindled mice (anticonvulsant effect)...

Vitamin A and its derivatives have recently reported to be implicated in synaptic plasticity. The possible effect of vitamin A and its precursor, ?-carotene, on seizure acquisition was tested in PTZ kindling model of epilepsy. Vitamin A and ?-carotene were tested for their ability to 1) suppress seizures (clonic and tonic) and lethality induced by PTZ in PTZ-kindled mice (anticonvulsant effect)...

Some novel fluorinated quinazolines (5a-j) were designed and synthesized to be evaluated for their anticonvulsant activity and their neurotoxicity. Structures of all newly synthesized compounds were confirmed by their infrared (IR), mass spectrometry (MS) spectra, ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), 13C-NMR, and elemental analysis (CHN). The anticonvulsant activity was evaluated by a subcutane...