Unravelling the Impact: Pulmonary Side Effects of Anti-Seizure Medications

Title:Unravelling the Impact: Pulmonary Side Effects of Anti-Seizure Medications

Volume: 21 Issue: 1

Author(s): Ambra Butera, Martina Pirrone, Arianna Santina Accetta, Carla Consoli, Antonio Gennaro Nicotera*Laura Turriziani

Affiliation:

• Unit of Child Neurology and Psychiatry, Department of Human Pathology of the Adult and Developmental Age “Gaetano Barresi”, University of Messina, Italy

Keywords: Anti-seizure medications (ASMs), antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), respiratory function, epilepsy, lung function, pulmonary disease.

Abstract:

Background: Epilepsy is a chronic brain condition affecting over 50 million people worldwide. Several new anti-seizure medications (ASMs) have been introduced to treat epilepsy in recent decades.

Objective: Nearby the specific therapeutic action, ASMs, like other types of pharmacotherapy, can produce various side effects. In this review, we shall analyze the different pharmaceutical classes of ASMs, their mechanism of action, and their interaction with the respiratory system.

Methods: This manuscript is based on a retrospective review of English publications indexed by Pubmed, UpToDate and datasheets published by the European Medicines Agency and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), using various terms reminiscent of ASMs and pulmonary function.

Results: ASMs act on organism homeostasis in different ways, acting on lung function directly and indirectly and playing a protective or damaging role. A damaging direct lung involvement ranged from infections, hypersensitivity reactions, and respiratory depression to other structured pulmonary diseases. Meanwhile, a damaging indirect effect, might be constituted by pulmonary artery hypertension. On the other hand, a protective effect might be the expression of developmental processing, decreasing airway remodelling in asthma patients, vascular remodelling in pulmonary hypertension and, nonetheless, anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory actions.

Conclusion: An adequate awareness of ASMs effects on the respiratory system seems essential for better managing frail individuals or/and those predisposed to respiratory disorders to improve our patients' clinical outcomes.

Cite this article as:

Butera Ambra, Pirrone Martina, Accetta Santina Arianna, Consoli Carla, Nicotera Gennaro Antonio*, Turriziani Laura, Unravelling the Impact: Pulmonary Side Effects of Anti-Seizure Medications, Current Respiratory Medicine Reviews 2025; 21 (1) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/011573398X279958240131101144