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REVIEW article

Front. Pharmacol.

Sec. Neuropharmacology

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1651414

Exploring how levetiracetam mitigates toxicity and ameliorates memory impairment

Provisionally accepted
  • 1Qassim University, Buraidah, Saudi Arabia
  • 2Qassim University, Buraydah, Saudi Arabia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Cognitive impairment encompasses a spectrum of deficits that markedly affect daily functioning and quality of life. Understanding the specific cognitive domains involved is thus crucial for developing targeted interventions and effective support strategies. This impairment ranges from mild cognitive decline to severe dementia and disproportionately affects older adults and cancer survivors. Multiple pathophysiological mechanisms, including elevated neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, disrupted synaptic plasticity, and neuronal apoptosis, contribute to the onset and progression of cognitive dysfunction. Emerging clinical and experimental data suggest that pharmacological interventions, including levetiracetam (LEV), a second-generation antiepileptic drug, can attenuate cognitive impairment. The neuroprotective potential of LEV is attributed to its unique mechanism of action, which involves selective binding to synaptic vesicle protein 2A and modulation of neurotransmitter release. In addition to its well-established antiepileptic effects, LEV exhibits anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, suggesting broader therapeutic applications in mitigating cognitive decline. This review synthesizes current knowledge on the mechanisms underlying cognitive impairment, evaluates existing measurement and prevention approaches, along with their limitations, and critically examines the potential efficacy of LEV in this context. The novelty of this review lies in its integrative focus on the mechanistic pathways through which LEV may protect against cognitive decline, with attention to conflicting findings and unresolved questions. In conclusion, current evidence suggests that LEV is a promising therapeutic candidate beyond epilepsy, though further clinical studies are needed to confirm its efficacy.

Keywords: levetiracetam, chemotherapy, Inflammation, Oxidative Stress, synaptic plasticity

Received: 21 Jun 2025; Accepted: 01 Sep 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Alhowail and Alharbi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Ahmad Hamad Alhowail, Qassim University, Buraidah, Saudi Arabia

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.