Novel pharmacological therapies for epilepsy in the pipeline

Epilepsy is the most common neurological disorder. In spite of medical therapy about ۳۰% of cases are drug resistant. In addition to drug therapy, nerve stimulation, surgery, Gene therapy and stem cell therapy , in recent years other treatment methods are being studied and researched which include: Adjunctive use of P-glycoprotein inhibitors (verapamil, nifedipine, quinidine, amiodarone, nicardipine, quinine, tamoxifen, and cyclosporin A), refinement of chemo genetics consists of using a receptor that detects pathological elevations of the endogenous neurotransmitter glutamate and inhibits neuron, precision medicine to describe medical treatments that target specifically the mechanisms responsible for the manifestations of the disease in individual patients as use of the ketogenic diet to treat glucose transporter ۱ (GLUT۱) deficiency syndrome and phenytoin for the treatment of epileptic encephalopathies caused by the sodium voltage-gated channel alpha subunit ۸ (SCN۸A) mutations, Another new treatment method is drug selection based on the recognition of receptors and ion channels, which can include the effect of memantine on the NMDA receptor and quinidine effects on potassium channel. Other research methods under consideration include: using allopurinol, melatonin, Fenofibrate, Minocycline, ceftriaxone, Galanin, TAK ۹۳۵- OV ۹۳۶ and everolimus (as modulator of m-TOR pathway in patients with tuberous sclerosis). Although many of the above drugs not yet reached the marketing stage, but is hoped that with the desired result can be of great help in the treatment of epilepsy.