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The anticonvulsants are a diverse group of pharmaceuticals used in the treatment of epileptic seizures. Anticonvulsants are also increasingly being used in the treatment of bipolar disorder, since many seem to act as mood stabilizers.
The goal of an anticonvulsant is to suppress the rapid and excessive firing of neurons that start a seizure. Failing this, an effective anticonvulsant would prevent the spread of the seizure within the brain and offer protection against possible excitotoxic effects that may result in brain damage. However, anticonvulsants themselves have been linked to lowered IQ in children.
Anticonvulsants are often called antiepileptic drugs (abbreviated "AEDs") or antiseizure drugs (abbreviated "ASDs").
The major molecular targets of marketed anticonvulsant drugs are:
1) voltage-gated sodium channels;
2) components of the GABA system, including GABAA receptors, the GAT-1 GABA transporter, and GABA transaminase;
3) voltage-gated calcium channels.
Some anticonvulsants have shown antiepileptogenic effects in animal models of epilepsy. That is, they either prevent the expected development of epilepsy or can halt or reverse the progression of epilepsy. However, no drug has been shown to prevent epileptogenesis (the development of epilepsy after an injury such as a head injury) in human trials.
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