ABSTRACT
The anticonvulsant properties of flunarizine (FNR) were also evaluated in reflex and generalized animal models of epilepsy. FNR was able to attenuate, in a dose-dependent manner, the tonic phase of the audiogenic seizure in DBA/2 mice, the photomyoclonic response in Papio papio, and cefzaolin-induced electrocortical discharges in rats. Lamotrigine, a 6-phenyl-1,2,4-triazine (molecular weight 256.1), originally synthesized as an antifolate compound, was found to possess potent anticonvulsant activity in rodents (see structure above). It is comparable in potency and spectrum of anticonvulsant activity to phenytoin and carbamazepine, inhibiting the tonic seizure component of supramaximal electrical and pentylenetetrazol-induced seizures. The United Kingdom Gabapentin (GBP) study group investigated the effect of GBP on partial epilepsy in a multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study of 1200 mg/day as add-on therapy in 127 patients with drug-resistant seizures. Twenty-five percent of the patients who received GBP had at least a 50% reduction in the number of partial seizures.
