Repurposing drugs for epilepsy
Epilepsy is a neurological disorder characterized by seizures that impair day-to-day living and cause cognitive impairments. About 40% of patients with epilepsy do not respond to antiepileptic drugs, highlighting the need to identify new therapeutic targets for drug development. Dossi et al. used brain tissue samples from patients with epilepsy undergoing surgical resection and a mouse model of epilepsy to show that the membrane channel pannexin-1 contributes to seizure activity. Two approved drugs that block the pannexin-1 channel reduced epileptic activity in human brain tissue slices ex vivo and in a mouse model of the disease. The results suggest that the pannexin-1 channel might be a valid therapeutic target for developing drugs to treat pharmacoresistant epilepsy.
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