Epilepsy is a brain disorder characterized by seizures. Seizures are caused by disturbed brain activity. Medical conditions like stroke, infections, brain injuries and infections all are potential causes. Surgery and medications called anticonvulsants are often used to treat seizures. Some anticonvulsants work by altering levels of neurotransmitters in your brain.
Significance
Glutamate is the main excitatory neurotransmitter in your central nervous system, and it has a role in seizure activity. The levels of extracellular glutamate rise before or during the onset of seizures, which means impaired uptake or enhanced release of this substance in your body likely contributes to seizure initiation, according to a 1994 "Neurology" study.
Theories
Using a glutamate antagonist, or blocker, that inhibits action at receptors for glutamate theoretically is a good strategy for controlling seizures, prompting research into drugs that have such action, according to a 1998 study published in "Progress in Neurobiology." However, the first clinical trials produced disappointing results when it came to seizures that had already kindled, notes lead study author Wolfgang Löscher.
Potential
There is more than one type of glutamate antagonist, however, and some of them may be effective at controlling seizures, according to a 2000 scientific review in the Polish medical journal, "Neurologia I Neurochirurgia Polska." Both N-methyl-D-aspartate, or NMDA, and non-NMDA receptor antagonists show promise when it comes to anticonvulsant activity -- at least in animal studies, according to review author S.J. Czuczwar. NMDA and non-NMDA are receptor subtypes for glutamate that are activated by NMDA, a glutamate analog. These receptors are involved in epilepsy-induced neuronal damage.
Considerations
More research is needed to develop glutamate antagonist drugs, which so far have suppressed seizures in animal studies but have not been proved useful clinically, according to the University of Washington. In the meantime, your doctor may prescribe anticonvulsant drugs that work by boosting inhibitory neurotransmitters like GABA that work in opposition to excitatory neurotransmitters such as glutamate.
References
- "Neurology"; The Role of Glutamate in Epilepsy and Other CNS Disorders; B.S. Meldrum; 1994
- "American Epilepsy Society"; The Role of Glutamate Transporters in Developmental Epilepsy: A Concept in Flux; Carl E. Stafstrom; 2004
- "Progress in Neurobiology"; Pharmacology of Glutamate Receptor Antagonists in the Kindling Model of Epilepsy; Wolfgang Löscher; 1998
- "Epileptic Seizures and Syndromes"; Peter Wolf; 1994
- "The Handbook of Brain Theory and Neural Networks"; Michael A. Arbib; 2003
- "Neurologia I Neurochirurgia Polska"; Glutamate Receptor Antagonists as Potential Antiepileptic drugs; S.J. Czuczwar; 2000
