ANTI-CONVULSANT AND ANXIOLYTIC ACTIVITY OF SOME MEDICINAL PLANTS: REVIEW

Anticonvulsants (also known as antiepileptic drugs, antiseizure drugs, or anti-seizure medications (ASM)) are a diverse group of pharmacological agents used in the treatment of epileptic seizures. Anticonvulsants are also increasingly being used in the treatment of bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder, since many seem to act as mood stabilizers, and for the treatment of neuropathic pain. Anticonvulsants suppress the excessive rapid firing of neurons during seizures. Anticonvulsants also prevent the spread of the seizure within the brain. Conventional antiepileptic drugs may block sodium channels or enhance γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) function. Several antiepileptic drugs have multiple or uncertain mechanisms of action. Next to the voltage-gated sodium channels and components of the GABA system, their targets include GABAA receptors, the GABA transporter type 1, and GABA transaminase. Additional targets include voltage-gated calcium channels, SV2A, and α2δ. By blocking sodium or calcium channels, antiepileptic drugs reduce the release of excitatory glutamate, whose release is considered to be elevated in epilepsy, but also that of GABA. This is probably a side effect or even the actual mechanism of action for some antiepileptic drugs, since GABA can itself, directly or indirectly, act proconvulsively. Another potential target of antiepileptic drugs is the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha.
A drug used to treat symptoms of anxiety, such as feelings of fear, dread, uneasiness, and muscle tightness that may occur as a reaction to stress. Most anxiolytics block the action of certain chemicals in the nervous system. Also called antianxiety agent and anxiolytic agent.
Keywords: Epilepsy, gamma-aminobutyric acid, Trauma, Anxiolytic, Lavandula angustifolia, Ferulic acid.