The Anticonvulsant Screening Program of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NIH: History and Contributions to Clinical Care in the Twentieth Century and Beyond.

The anticonvulsant screening program (ASP) of the national institute of neurological disorders and stroke (NINDS), National Institutes of Health has made substantial contributions to the drug armamentarium of the clinical neurologist. This program, originally a part of the overall Drug Development Program of the Epilepsy Branch, has been fortunate to have talented leadership, both at NINDS in Maryland and at the major contract site, the University of Utah-over a remarkable period of more than 40 years. Future discoveries by the ASP (now renamed the Epilepsy Therapy Screening) can be expected to make additional contributions to improving the health of persons with epilepsy.

Mechanisms of action of anti-seizure drugs and the anticonvulsant screening program of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

Objective: To determine the efficacy of the Anticonvulsant Screening Program (ASP) of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) in identifying new anti-seizure drugs with new mechanisms of action (MOA). The ASP does not itself identify the nature of the MOA, but on further basic investigation, many of these drugs prove eventually to have a wide variety of new and novel MOA.

Methods: Data were tabulated from multiple sources, including the ASP and the literature.

The anticonvulsant profile of rufinamide (CGP 33101) in rodent seizure models.

Purpose: To evaluate the anticonvulsant profile and behavioral toxicity of rufinamide in animal seizure models compared to the established antiepileptic drugs (AEDs): phenytoin, phenobarbital, valproate, and ethosuximide, or vehicle.

Methods: In acute studies of anticonvulsant efficacy, the AEDs were administered via oral (CF1 mice and Sprague-Dawley rats) and intraperitoneal (CF1 mice) routes. The AEDs were assessed for their ability to inhibit seizures induced by maximal electroshock (MES) or subcutaneous pentylenetetrazol, and ability to block seizures induced by subcutaneous strychnine, bicuculline, or picrotoxin.

Lacosamide, a novel anti-convulsant drug, shows efficacy with a wide safety margin in rodent models for epilepsy.

This paper comprises a series of experiments in rodent models of partial and generalized epilepsy which were designed to describe the anti-convulsant profile of the functionalized amino acid lacosamide. Lacosamide was effective against sound-induced seizures in the genetically susceptible Frings mouse, against maximal electroshock test (MES)-induced seizures in rats and mice, in the rat hippocampal kindling model of partial seizures, and in the 6Hz model of psychomotor seizures in mice. The activity in the MES test in both mice (4.

Progress report on new antiepileptic drugs: a summary of the Eigth Eilat Conference (EILAT VIII).

The Eigth Eilat Conference on New Antiepileptic Drugs (AEDs)-EILAT VII, took place in Sitges, Barcelona from the 10th to 14th September, 2006. Basic scientists, clinical pharmacologists and neurologists from 24 countries attended the conference, whose main themes included a focus on status epilepticus (epidemiology, current and future treatments), evidence-based treatment guidelines and the potential of neurostimulation in refractory epilepsy. Consistent with previous formats of this conference, the central part of the conference was devoted to a review of AEDs in development, as well as updates on marketed AEDs introduced since 1989.