Drugs Targeting the Disease Progression, Cognitive Impairment, Anxiety and Other Co-morbidities in Epilepsy: From Bench to Bedside

Dear Colleagues,

Until now, epilepsy therapy has mainly focused on anticonvulsant drugs with negligible disease modifying properties.  Despite the increasing implication of non-canonical neurotransmitter systems in epilepsy, this knowledge has not been sufficiently translated into clinical practice to decrease epileptogenesis progression and accompanying neuropsychiatric co-morbidities. For instance, brain monoaminergic circuits are important regulators of synaptic plasticity and acute stress responses ultimately involved in epilepsy-induced anxiety and memory impairment, but only a few studies have proven that these circuits are altered in epilepsy. Likewise, central cholinergic system adaptations are also associated with epileptogenesis. Both monoaminergic and cholinergic brain circuits frequently target cortical interneurons, expressing a myriad of neuropeptide co-transmitters in distinct cortical areas including the hippocampus, the amygdala, and the prefrontal cortex, all involved in emotional control of cognition. On the other hand, brain neuropeptides released during high-frequency and repetitive discharges may also foster neuronal hyperexcitability states, thus facilitating seizures recurrence and chronic epilepsy. This Special Issue aims to receive high-quality original research papers and review articles focusing on novel drug targets to control epilepsy progression and neuropsychiatric co-morbidities from bench to bedside and bedside to bench perspectives.

Dr. Diana Cunha-Reis
Dr. Paulo Correia-de-Sá
Guest Editors

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