Homeostatic bioenergetic network regulation - a novel concept to avoid pharmacoresistance in epilepsy

INTRODUCTION: Despite epilepsy being one of the most prevalent neurological disorders, one third of all patients with epilepsy cannot adequately be treated with available antiepileptic drugs. One of the significant causes for the failure of conventional pharmacotherapeutic treatment is the development of pharmacoresistance in many forms of epilepsy. The problem of pharmacoresistance has called for the development of new conceptual strategies that improve future drug development efforts. AREAS COVERED: A thorough review of the recent literature on pharmacoresistance in epilepsy was completed and select examples were chosen to highlight the mechanisms of pharmacoresistance in epilepsy and to demonstrate how those mechanistic findings might lead to improved treatment of pharmacoresistant epilepsy. The reader will gain a thorough understanding of pharmacoresistance in epilepsy and an appreciation of the limitations of conventional drug development strategies. EXPERT OPINION: Conventional drug development efforts aim to achieve specificity of symptom control by enhancing the selectivity of drugs acting on specific downstream targets; this conceptual strategy bears the undue risk of development of pharmacoresistance. Modulation of homeostatic bioenergetic network regulation is a novel conceptual strategy to affect whole neuronal networks synergistically by mobilizing multiple endogenous biochemical and receptor-dependent molecular pathways. In our expert opinion we conclude that homeostatic bioenergetic network regulation might thus be used as an innovative strategy for the control of pharmacoresistant seizures. Recent focal adenosine augmentation strategies support the feasibility of this strategy.