[Drug interactions involving psychotropic agents and anticonvulsants]

The problem of drug interactions is particularly important for psychoactive agents and for anticonvulsants because of their large use and of peculiarities of their clinical application. Such interactions may, in a few conditions, explain unforeseen adverse effects, and, more frequently, they disturb the meaning of plasma determinations of the monitored drugs. Some interactions can be pharmacokinetic, principally by way of enzyme induction or enzyme inhibition, and than they lead to disturbances in the plasma levels of the active substances. On the other hand, interactions can take place at the pharmacodynamic level, which is as an important condition although it is less well-known. Some examples are given for both mechanisms.