In-vivo anti-epileptic study of newly synthesized pregabalin derivatives based on docking studies.

OBJECTIVE: The goal of the present study is to examine pretreatment with Schiff bases and derivatives of pregabalin along with their metal (Zn and Cu) complexes on the severity of epilepsy, latency time, duration of convulsions, seizure score and survival rate in mice.

METHODS: To achieve the goal, a molecular docking study of analogues was carried out on a specific molecular target, such as the alpha-2δ receptor (PDB ID: 6ND9); which revealed the significant binding affinity of the analogs to their respective target. Based on the docking information, all pregabalin derivatives were synthesized and in-vivo antiepileptic effect was confirmed by applying the PTZ model that prioritized the most crucial significant points responsible for biological activity.

RESULTS: The test compounds markedly increased the latency of the first seizure and reduced the frequency of seizures throughout the body and frequent spinning and jumps. Additionally, treatment with pregabalin derivatives in mice that received PTZ significantly reduced the duration of seizures and seizure score. However, it increased the survival rate of the mice.

DISCUSSION: Since the newly synthesized compounds were more active as compared to the parent drug in some respects; therefore, the expansion of the project can be planned to explore clinical side of the drugs in the future.