Past, Present and Future of Antiepileptic Drug Therapy - Finding a Place for Heterocyclics

Epilepsy is a serious brain condition characterized by recurring seizures. It affects millions of people across the globe. Much advancement in the past has improved the understanding of the underlying pathophysiology and risk factors for epilepsy. These advances have led to the development of both new terminologies and classification as well as treatment strategies for the disease. Despite the fact that various antiepileptic drugs have been developed in past decades, major part of affected population remains either resistant or refractory to the currently available therapy. Also, none of these anticonvulsant agents are devoid of serious side effect. Therefore, constant efforts are being made to develop antiepileptic drugs with improved efficacy and better pharmacokinetic and safety profile. The new structural classes which are being developed broadly amides, amino acids and a number of heterocyclic agents like oxadiazoles, benzimidazoles, benzothazoles, pyrazoles, indoles and benzothaizoles etc. These new compounds have potential for identification of novel targets and drug development. This review makes a note of these issues and describes recent developments in antiepileptic drug discovery.