Adrenocorticotropin and Steroids
Adrenocorticotropin and Steroids Melinda A. Nolan O. Carter Snead III HISTORICAL BACKGROUND The first report of the efficacy of adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) therapy for childhood seizures appeared in 1950, when Klein…
Vigabatrin
Vigabatrin Elinor Ben-Menachem HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Although it was known that decreases in brain gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) caused convulsions in animals and agents that enhanced GABA-mediated functions could have an anticonvulsant…
Tiagabine
Tiagabine Steven C. Schachter HISTORICAL BACKGROUND AND CHEMISTRY Tiagabine (-)-(R)-1-[4,4-Bis(3-methyl-2-thienyl)-3-butenyl] nipecotic acid hydrochloride (TGB; Gabitril, Abbot Laboratories, Cephalon, Inc. West Chester, Pennsylvania) received regulatory clearance from the US Food and…
Levetiracetam
Levetiracetam Joseph I. Sirven Joseph F. Drazkowski Levetiracetam (LEV) is a novel antiepileptic drug (AED) approved in 2000 by the US Food and Drug Administration as adjunctive therapy for patients…
Zonisamide
Zonisamide Timothy E. Welty Zonisamide was first synthesized in 1974 in Japan. In the early 1980s, clinical trials of zonisamide were initiated in the United States. Because of an increased…
Topiramate
Topiramate Michael D. Privitera HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Topiramate (TPM) is a highly oxygenated sulfamate-substituted monosaccharide that is structurally distinct from other anticonvulsant medications. Available in the United States as Topamax (Ortho-McNeil…
Lamotrigine
Lamotrigine Frank G. Gilliam Barry E. Gidal CHEMISTRY AND MECHANISM OF ACTION Lamotrigine is a phenyltriazine, a tertiary amine derivative [3,5-diamino-6-(2,3-dichlorophenyl)-1,2,4-trizine; molecular weight, 256.09] that is poorly soluble in water…
Gabapentin and Pregabalin
Gabapentin and Pregabalin Michael J. McLean Barry E. Gidal Gabapentin (1-[aminomethyl]cyclohexaneacetic acid), or (3-cyclohexyl γ-aminobutyric acid [GABA]; see Fig. 59.1) resulted from bonding cyclohexane to the 3-position of the GABA…
Benzodiazepines
Benzodiazepines L. John Greenfield Jr. Howard C. Rosenberg Richard W. Homan Benzodiazepines were developed in 1933 from a class of heterocyclic compounds known since 1891 (1). Clinical interest initially focused…
