Miscellaneous anticonvulsants

What are Miscellaneous anticonvulsants?

Anticonvulsants are drugs that prevent or reduce the severity and frequency of seizures in various types of epilepsy. The different types of anticonvulsants may act on different receptors in the brain and have different modes of action.

Two mechanisms that appear to be important in anticonvulsants are enhancement of GABA action and inhibition of sodium channel activity. Other mechanisms are inhibition of calcium channels and glutamate receptors.

Miscellaneous Anticonvulsants

Drug	Target	Type
Brivaracetam	Cytochrome P450 2C9	enzyme
Carbamazepine	Voltage-gated sodium channel alpha subunit	target
Carbamazepine	Cytochrome P450 2C8	enzyme
Carbamazepine	Cytochrome P450 2B6	enzyme

Phenytoin is a hydantoin derivative, a first-generation anti-convulsant drug that is effective in the treatment of generalized tonic-clonic seizures, complex partial seizures, and status epilepticus without significantly impairing neurological function.

Other anticonvulsants

Carbamazepine.
Oxcarbazepine (Trileptal, Oxtellar XR)
Lamotrigine (Lamictal)
Phenytoin (Dilantin)

Levetiracetam (LEV) is a new antiepileptic drug that is clinically effective in generalized and partial epilepsy syndromes as sole or add-on medication. Nevertheless, its underlying mechanism of action is poorly understood.