: Epilepsy is a neurological disorder that involves abnormal and recurrent neuronal discharges, producing epileptic seizures. Recently, it has been proposed that the Wnt signaling pathway is essential for the central nervous system development and function because it modulates important processes such as hippocampal neurogenesis, synaptic clefting, and mitochondrial regulation. Wnt/β- catenin signaling regulates changes induced by epileptic seizures, including neuronal death. Several genetic studies associate Wnt/β-catenin signaling with neuronal excitability and epileptic activity. Mutations and chromosomal defects underlying syndromic or inherited epileptic seizures have been identified. However, genetic factors underlying the susceptibility of an individual to develop epileptic seizures have not been fully studied yet. In this review, we describe the genes involved in neuronal excitability in epileptogenic zones dependent on the Wnt/β-catenin pathway.

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: Retinoic acid, a metabolite of vitamin A, acts through either genomic or nongenomic actions. The genomic action of retinoids exerts effects on gene transcription through interaction with retinoid receptors such as retinoic acid receptors (RARα, β, and γ) and retinoid X receptors (RXRα, β, and γ) that are primarily concentrated in amygdala, pre-frontal cortex, and hippocampal areas in the brain. In response to retinoid binding, RAR/RXR heterodimers undergo major conformational changes and orchestrate the transcription of specific gene networks. Previous experimental studies have reported that retinoic acid exerts an antiepileptogenic effect through diverse mechanisms, including the modulation of gap junctions, neurotransmitters, long-term potentiation, calcium channels and some genes. To our knowledge, there are no previous or current clinical trials evaluating the use of retinoic acid for seizure control.

Many neurotoxic substances produce toxic effects on the nervous system. Given the neurotoxic substances found in the human body, certain people have been regarded as having a propensity to epileptic seizures. In many situations, the neurotransmission processes of these toxins are similar to the physiopathology of epilepsy. Epileptic models have been developed to induce seizures in animals, allowing researchers to study convulsive seizure mechanisms. Pentylenetetrazol, kainic acid, pilocarpine, penicillin, aluminum, bicuculline, picrotoxine, 4-aminopyridine, strictine, domoic acid, and other compounds fall under this category. However, there are some drugs used in clinical practice that can cause neurotoxicity as well. In this chapter, the predominant substances and drugs involved in epileptogenesis through neurotoxicity effects are reviewed. Throughout this chapter, we attempt to describe the mechanisms documented in the literature, in which epileptic seizures cause neurotoxicity in the brain by themselves, as shown with excitotoxicity mediated by glutamate and ions involved.

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