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

Abstract

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.