Shafaqna Health: Researchers from the Centre for Bioinformatics at Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), Rohtak, along with collaborators, claimed to have identified existing medicines that could potentially be repurposed to treat epilepsy. Their study has been published in the international journal Scientific Reports.
“In this research, scientists used advanced bioinformatics and computational drug discovery techniques to analyse approved medicines. Instead of developing entirely new drugs—which are expensive and time-consuming—the team explored whether existing medicines could be repurposed to work against epilepsy. Using computer-based screening, molecular docking and simulation methods, the researchers evaluated how different drugs interact with key brain proteins involved in seizure activity,” said Dr Ajit Kumar, Professor at the Centre for Bioinformatics.
He maintained that epilepsy is a neurological disorder that affects millions of people worldwide. Despite the availability of several anti-epileptic drugs, nearly one-third of patients continue to experience uncontrolled seizures, highlighting the urgent need for better treatment options, he added.
“The study screened more than 2,500 approved drugs and identified several compounds with strong potential to act against epilepsy-related targets in the brain. Among them, three medicines—Oxaprozin, Pizotifen, and Cyproheptadine—showed particularly promising results by binding effectively with multiple proteins linked to seizure generation,” Dr Ajit pointed out.
He maintained further computational simulations indicated that these drugs could interact stably with important neurological targets such as voltage-gated sodium channels, GABA receptors and calcium channels, which play crucial roles in controlling electrical activity in the brain.
The researchers suggest that these findings may open new possibilities for developing improved treatments for epilepsy through drug repurposing. However, they emphasize that laboratory experiments and clinical studies will be needed to confirm the therapeutic potential of these candidates.
