Mechanism of Action of Anticonvulsant Drugs: a Review

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder characterized by excessive electrical discharge in brain, which causes seizures. The therapeutic strategy in countering epilepsy involves reducing neuronal excitability through different mechanistic pathway. Most therapeutics currently used in the treatment of epilepsy is either directed towards blocking voltage-gated sodium and calcium channels or potentiating gamma amino butyric acid (GABA)-mediated neurotransmission, with little focus on voltage gated potassium ion channels, despite these channels having a major role in the control of all aspects of neuronal excitability. It is reported that functional impairment of potential channel, either by mutation or inhibition, result in epilepsy.