Antiepileptic Drugs

1. Front Matter

   Pages I-XXII

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2. Clinical Aspects of Epileptic Disease

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Epilepsy: Seizures and Syndromes

      • D. Janz

      Pages 3-34

   3. Electroencephalography

      • R. Hess

      Pages 35-54

   4. Epilepsy in Animals

      • T. A. Holliday

      Pages 55-76

3. Pathophysiology of Seizure Disorders

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 77-77

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   2. Intermediary Metabolism

      • B. E. Dwyer, C. G. Wasterlain

      Pages 79-100

   3. Monoamines and the Pathophysiology of Seizure Disorders

      • E. Przegaliński

      Pages 101-137

   4. Acetylcholine

      • C. Bianchi, L. Beani

      Pages 139-151

   5. GABA and Other Amino Acids

      • B. S. Meldrum

      Pages 153-188

   6. Prostaglandins

      • K. Wiśniewski, H.-H. Frey

      Pages 189-195

4. General Pharmacology of Antiepileptic Drugs

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 197-197

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   2. Chemical Constitution and Pharmacological Effect

      • H. Schäfer

      Pages 199-243

   3. Biochemistry

      • G. L. Jones, D. M. Woodbury

      Pages 245-263

   4. Tolerance and Dependence

      • H.-H. Frey

      Pages 265-282

   5. Animal Experimental Methods in the Study of Antiepileptic Drugs

      • W. P. Koella, G. D. Gladding, H. J. Kupferberg, E. A. Swinyard

      Pages 283-347

5. Specific Pharmacology of Antiepileptic Drugs

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 349-349

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   2. Hydantoins

      • G. L. Jones, G. H. Wimbish

      Pages 351-419

   3. Barbituric Acid Derivatives

      • B. B. Gallagher, L. S. Freer

      Pages 421-447

   4. Primidone

      • H.-H. Frey

      Pages 449-477

Epileptic disorders need treatment for many years or even for life, and this makes a thorough understanding of the pharmacokinetics and possible hazards and side effects of the drugs used in treatment mandatory. During recent decades our knowledge in this field has considerably increased, not least as a result of the development of specific and sensitive methods for the determination of anti­ epileptic agents in biological material. The clinical pharmacology of this group of drugs has been studied extensively and can today be regarded as well established. This does not necessarily mean that drug treatment of epilepsy is without problems. For example, it has recently been shown that one of the newer anti­ epileptic drugs, greeted with great enthusiasm by clinicians, may in rare instances induce serious damage to the liver and the pancreas, and seems even to have a certain teratogenic potential. Clinical problems should be understood as a challenge to the experimental pharmacologist, who should try to find explanations for the clinical hazards, and, if possible, show new ways in which better drugs might be developed. In recent years interest has focused on the importance of the inhibitory transmitter 'l'-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the pathophysiology of epilepsy, and there have been a series of attempts to find useful antiepileptic drugs among substances interfering with GABA metabolism in the CNS.

• CNS
• Drugs
• GABA
• drug
• kinetics
• metabolism
• pathophysiology
• pharmacokinetics
• pharmacology
• physiology

• Laboratorium für Pharmakologie und Toxikologie Fachbereich Veterinärmedizin, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany

  Hans-Hasso Frey

• Abteilung für Neurologie, Klinikum Charlottenburg, Germany

  Dieter Janz

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