Recent trends in the development of new anti-epileptic drugs

This article summarises reports of new compounds with anticonvulsant activity that have appeared in the patent literature over the past five years. The subject compounds are arranged and discussed according to the following two major categories: new candidate drugs with structural features in common with established anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs), and new candidate drugs with novel structures. The first category includes derivatives and analogues of carbamazepine and oxcarbazepine, felbamate, lamotrigine, phenytoin, tiagabine, topiramate and valproate. The second category describes compounds structurally unrelated to these AEDs, and includes acids and their derivatives, amides and vinylogous amides, aliphatic amines, benzimidazoles and imidazoles, benzodiazepines and benzothiazepines, benzopyrans, benzothiazoles, isoindolinones, lactams, lactones and thiolactones, 2(1H)-quinolones, quinoxalines and quinazolines, steroids and tricyclic steroid analogues, ureas and carbamates, and miscellaneous structural types. Proposed mechanisms of action are included whenever possible. A summary of mechanism-based trends and possible receptor targets for the future are discussed.