Development and Pharmacological Assessment of 3-Substituted Isatin Analogues as Potential Anticonvulsant Agents

Epilepsy is one of the more common brain disorders characterised by recurrent spontaneous seizures of cerebral origin, presenting with episodes of sensory, motor, or autonomic phenomena with or without loss of consciousness. Many studies revealed that isatin is a privileged lead molecule for designing potential bioactive agents, and its derivatives constitute an important class of heterocyclic compounds and are shown to possess a broad spectrum of bioactivity. A variety of novel isatin derivatives 3a–3j were synthesised and characterised by spectroscopic means. The title compounds were investigated for anticonvulsant activity using the PTZ seizure test. Among the synthesised analogues, the most active one was 3a, and following 3a, the compound 3f shows potent anticonvulsant activity. Other compounds such as 3b,3h, and 3i show less potency than that of 3a and 3f. All compounds (25mg/kg) showed protection against clonus and jerky movements when compared to the standard drug Ethosuximide (25mg/kg).