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. 2010 Mar;10(2):42-6.
doi: 10.1111/j.1535-7511.2009.01350.x.

Prenatal effects of antiepileptic drugs

Chrysanthy Ikonomidou  1
Affiliations

Prenatal effects of antiepileptic drugs

Chrysanthy Ikonomidou. Epilepsy Curr. 2010 Mar.

Abstract

Antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) target ion channels and neurotransmitter systems in the brain; these same targets are responsible for regulation of processes essential for brain development. In this review, experimental findings on adverse effects of AEDs in the developing mammalian brain will be presented, including interference with physiological apoptotic cell death, cell proliferation and migration, neurogenesis, axonal arborization, synaptogenesis, and synaptic plasticity.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Brain growth spurts in humans and rats, expressed as first-order velocity curves of the increase in weight with age. Reference: Ikonomidou and Turski (55).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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