Pediatric neurology
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Pediatric neurology · Jan 2002
ReviewThyrotropin-releasing hormone in the treatment of intractable epilepsy.
Intractable seizures remain a significant therapeutic challenge despite current advances in the treatment of epilepsy. Thyrotropin-releasing hormone, the first neuroendocrine releasing factor to be isolated and fully characterized, was also the first releasing factor investigated as a possible neurotransmitter/neuromodulator outside the hypothalamus. ⋯ Clinically, thyrotropin-releasing hormone treatment has been reported to be efficacious in such intractable epilepsies as infantile spasms, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, myoclonic seizures, and other generalized and refractory partial seizures. Herein, we review evidence that suggests that thyrotropin-releasing hormone and selected thyrotropin-releasing hormone analogs may represent a new class of novel antiepileptic drugs, namely, antiepileptic neuropeptides and provide insights into potential new treatments for the intractable epilepsies.