9Th Brazilian Symposium on Medicinal Chemistry

Epilepsy is a common neurologic disorder in childhood and is associated to neurological damage and developmental impairments. This condition is among the most common chronic neurologic disorders affecting about 1% of children and corresponding to the highest incidence rate during infancy. About 10% of children with epilepsy show intractable seizures, which increase the risk of sudden death. Considering the above, research for new treatments, especially in neonatal cases, is of great significance, since current treatments are not able to completely control seizures. Benzimidazole molecules are potential anticonvulsant prototypes for new drugs. Furthermore, attention on biochemical and pharmacological properties of organic selenium compounds is in continuous increase. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to investigate the anti-epileptic effect of novel seleno-1H-benzimidazoles. The 5 drugs displayed a positive dose/latency increase correlation. In particular, compounds 2 and 4 showed enhancement in latency times and lower incidence of severe seizures crisis respectively.