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©The Author(s) 2019. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Pharmacology. Jan 15, 2019; 8(1): 1-13
Published online Jan 15, 2019. doi: 10.5497/wjp.v8.i1.1
Published online Jan 15, 2019. doi: 10.5497/wjp.v8.i1.1
Pharmacology and clinical applications of flupirtine: Current and future options
Kim Lawson, Department of Biosciences and Chemistry, Biomolecular Sciences Research Centre, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield S1 1WB, United Kingdom
Author contributions: Lawson K researched the materials for the article and wrote the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There is no conflict of interest associated with the author for the contributions in this manuscript.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Kim Lawson, PhD, Senior Lecturer, Department of Biosciences and Chemistry, Biomolecular Sciences Research Centre, Sheffield Hallam University, City Campus, Howard Street, Sheffield S1 1WB, United Kingdom. k.lawson@shu.ac.uk
Telephone: +44-114-2253057 Fax: +44-114-2253066
Received: September 21, 2018
Peer-review started: September 23, 2018
First decision: November 5, 2018
Revised: November 17, 2018
Accepted: January 5, 2019
Article in press: January 5, 2019
Published online: January 15, 2019
Processing time: 117 Days and 18.1 Hours
Peer-review started: September 23, 2018
First decision: November 5, 2018
Revised: November 17, 2018
Accepted: January 5, 2019
Article in press: January 5, 2019
Published online: January 15, 2019
Processing time: 117 Days and 18.1 Hours
Core Tip
Core tip: Flupirtine exhibits pharmacological properties due to actions on Kv7 channels, G-protein-regulated inwardly rectifying K channels and γ-aminobutyric acid type A receptors leading to the suppression of over excitability of neuronal and non-neuronal cells. Consequently flupirtine has demonstrated efficacy consistent with use as an analgesic, an anticonvulsant, a neuroprotectant, skeletal and smooth muscle relaxant, in treatment of auditory and visual disorders, and treatment of memory and cognitive impairment. Flupirtine is providing important information and clues regarding novel mechanistic approaches to the treatment of a range of clinical conditions involving hyper-excitability of cells.