Imidazole Incorporated Semicarbazone Derivatives as a New Class of Anticonvulsants: Design, Synthesis and In-Vivo Screening

A series of novel imidazole incorporated semicarbazones was synthesized using an appropriate synthetic route and characterized by spectral analysis (IR, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR and Mass). The anticonvulsant activity of the synthesized compounds was determined using doses of 30, 100, and 300 mg kg^-1 against maximal electroshock seizure (MES), subcutaneous pentylenetetrazole (scPTZ) induced seizure and minimal neurotoxicity test. Six compounds exhibited protection in both models and 2-(1-(4-chlorophenyl)-2-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)ethylidene)-N-p-tolylsemicarbazone emerged as the most active compound of the series without any neurotoxicity and significant CNS depressant effect. Liver enzyme estimations (SGOT, SGPT, Alkaline phosphatase) of the compound also showed no significant change in the enzymes levels. Moreover, it caused 80% elevation of γ-amino butyric acid (GABA) levels in the whole mice brain, thus indicating that it could be a promising candidate in designing of a potent anticonvulsant drug.