Medical Hypotheses
Volume 69, Issue 4 , Pages 858-859, 2007

Bronchial asthma as neurogenic paroxysmal inflammatory disease: Do some antiepileptic drugs have antiasthmatic properties?

Neurological and Neurosomatic Department, “Rea” Rehabilitation Centre, 18 a Vazha Pshavela ave., 0160 Tbilisi, Georgia

Received 29 January 2007; accepted 1 February 2007. published online 22 March 2007.

Summary 

Bronchial asthma is an inflammatory disease, and neurogenic inflammation may play important role in asthma mechanisms. But asthma also is an inflammatory disease with paroxysmal clinical picture. It is known that migraine and trigeminal neuralgia also are inflammatory diseases with paroxysmal clinical picture, and neurogenic inflammation plays important role in their mechanisms.

Antiepileptic drugs are highly effective in pharmacotherapy of migraine and trigeminal neuralgia, and these drugs completely prevent attacks of migraine and trigeminal pain in great majority of cases.

Due to this it is possible that some antiepileptic drugs may be highly effective in pharmacotherapy of asthma.

Bronchial asthma can be considered as peripheral paroxysmal and inflammatory disease with definite central neurogenic mechanism. It is also possible that some antiepileptic drugs can suppress inflammatory processes in asthma through the central neural influence, like in therapy of migraine and trigeminal neuralgia.

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PII: S0306-9877(07)00145-4

doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2007.02.004

Medical Hypotheses
Volume 69, Issue 4 , Pages 858-859, 2007