Anticonvulsant agents zonisamide

Certain anticonvulsants developed initially for the treatment of epilepsy, such as topiramate and zonisamide, have been found to have a beneficial effect in mood disorders, particularly bipolar disorder. In addition, patients treated with these compounds lose weight. They were therefore seen as potential therapeutic agents for use in obese patients with BED. 

A review of the second-generation anticonvulsants reveals that screening or serendipity led to the development of felbamate (10), 1am-otrigine (11), zonisamide (13), topiramate (15), and levetiracetam (16) on the other hand, clobazam (4d) and oxcarbazepine (12) were developed by structural variation of known agents (78). Only three, vigabatrin (8), gabapentin (9), and tiagabine (14), were developed by mechanism-based rational development (78). 

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