Recent Developments of Hydrazide/Hydrazone Derivatives and Their Analogs as Anticonvulsant Agents in Animal Models.

Preclinical Research Epilepsy is a chronic devastating neurological disorder characterized by synchronous interictal discharges. Treatment with antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) can alleviate spontaneous seizure activity without preventing the progression and development of epileptogenesis. Current design and development of new AEDs and strategies for the prevention of epilepsy is focused mainly on attenuating uncontrolled seizures, severe side effects and toxicity in chronic drug therapy. It has thus become necessary to discover new chemical pharmacophores with a broad spectrum of activity and less neurotoxicity. Hydrazide/hydrazone derivatives that possess a -CO-NHN=CH- group constitute an important class of compounds for drug development. This review highlights the specific characteristics of various hydrazide/hydrazone derivatives and structurally related semicarbazones, semicarbazides and Schiff base compounds and their anticonvulsant activities. It is focused on the influence of differently substituted pharmacophores developed through SAR studies and testing their activity against different pharmcological targets. Drug Dev Res 77 : 379-392, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Synthesis and anticonvulsant activity of 7-phenyl-6,7-dihydro-[1,2,4]triazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidin-5(4H)-ones and their derivatives.

Herein, we described the syntheses and anticonvulsant activities of 7-(substituted-phenyl)-6,7-dihydro-[1,2,4]triazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidin-5(4H)-ones (1a-1o) and their derivatives. Most of the synthesized compounds exhibited potent anticonvulsant activities in the maximal electroshock test (MES). The most promising compound 1i showed significant anticonvulsant activity in MES test with ED(50) value of 19.7 mg/kg. It displayed a wide margin of safety with protective index much higher than the standard drugs. In addition, the potence of compound 1i against seizures induced by Pentylenetetrazole, Isoniazid, Thiosemicarbazide, 3-Mercaptopropionic acid, and Bicuculline in the chemical-induced seizure tests suggested that compound 1i displayed broad spectrum activity in several models, and it is likely to have several mechanisms of action including inhibiting voltage-gated ion channels and modulating GABAergic activity.