The Journal of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics
-
J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. · Jul 1998
Trimetazidine counteracts the hepatic injury associated with ischemia-reperfusion by preserving mitochondrial function.
Recent studies suggest a crucial role played by mitochondria in the pathogenesis of ischemia-reperfusion injury. This study was conducted to clarify the role of trimetazidine, a cellular anti-ischemic agent, on mitochondria isolated from rat liver subjected to 120-min normothermic ischemia followed by 30-min reperfusion. Rats were divided into groups, pretreated with different doses of trimetazidine (5, 10 and 20 mg/kg/day) or saline and subjected to the ischemia-reperfusion process; another group served as the sham-operated controls. ⋯ The pretreatment of rats with trimetazidine prevented these ischemia-reperfusion deleterious effects at both the cellular and mitochondrial level in a dose-dependent manner. It is concluded that trimetazidine at an optimal dosage of 10 mg/kg/day protects mitochondria against the deleterious effects of ischemia-reperfusion. This protective effect appears to be the key factor through which this drug exerts its cytoprotective activity.
-
J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. · Jul 1998
First evidence of otoprotection against carboplatin-induced hearing loss with a two-compartment system in patients with central nervous system malignancy using sodium thiosulfate.
Sodium thiosulfate (STS) provides protection against carboplatin-induced ototoxicity in an animal model. The purpose of this study was to determine the STS dose required for otoprotection, in patients with malignant brain tumors treated with carboplatin in conjunction with osmotic blood-brain barrier disruption. Twenty-nine patients received STS intravenously 2 hr after carboplatin. ⋯ Furthermore, patients in the STS treatment group with excellent base-line hearing showed little change in hearing thresholds at 8 kHz after the second treatment (8.0 +/- 8.3 dB) (n = 5) compared with the historical control patients with excellent base-line hearing, (40.5 +/- 8.6 dB) (n = 11). Our data support that doses of 16 or 20 g/m2 of STS decrease carboplatin-induced hearing loss without central nervous system entry. Clinical demonstration of an otoprotective effect with a two-compartment system to prevent drug-induced hearing loss, while preserving central nervous system cytotoxicity, has not been reported previously.
-
J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. · Jun 1998
The excitatory behavioral and antianalgesic pharmacology of normorphine-3-glucuronide after intracerebroventricular administration to rats.
In the adult male Sprague-Dawley rat, a species commonly used to study tolerance to the antinociceptive effects of morphine, approximately 10% of the morphine dose is metabolized to normorphine-3-glucuronide (NM3G). In contrast, NM3G is a relatively minor metabolite of morphine in human urine reportedly accounting for approximately 1% of the morphine dose. To date, the pharmacology of NM3G has been poorly characterized. ⋯ When administered before morphine (70 nmol i. c.v.), NM3G (8.9 nmol i.c.v.) attenuated antinociception for up to 2 hr, but when administered after morphine, no significant attenuation of morphine antinociception was observed. Thus, after i.c.v. administration, NM3G like M3G, is a potent CNS excitant and antianalgesic in the rat. NM3G may therefore play a role in the development of tolerance to the antinociceptive effects of morphine in the rat as has been proposed previously for M3G.
-
Evidence from both clinical studies and animal models suggests that the local anesthetic, lidocaine, is neurotoxic. However, the mechanism of lidocaine-induced toxicity is unknown. To test the hypothesis that toxicity results from a direct action of lidocaine on sensory neurons we performed in vitro histological, electrophysiological and fluorometrical experiments on isolated dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons from the adult rat. ⋯ This depolarization occurred even though voltage-gated sodium currents and action potentials were blocked effectively at much lower concentrations. (EC50 values for lidocaine-induced block of tetrodotoxin-sensitive and -resistant voltage-gated sodium currents were 41 and 101 microM, respectively.) At concentrations similar to those that induced neurotoxicity and depolarization, lidocaine also induced an increase in the concentration of intracellular Ca++ ions ([Ca++]i; EC50 = 21 mM) via Ca++ influx through the plasma membrane as well as release of Ca++ from intracellular stores. Finally, lidocaine-induced neurotoxicity was attenuated significantly when lidocaine was applied in the presence of nominally Ca(++)-free bath solution to DRG neurons preloaded with 1,2-bis(2-aminophenoxy)ethane-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid (BAPTA). Our results indicate: 1) that lidocaine is neurotoxic to sensory neurons; 2) that toxicity results from a direct action on sensory neurons; and 3) that a lidocaine-induced increase in intracellular Ca++ is a mechanism of lidocaine-induced neuronal toxicity.
-
J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. · May 1998
ABT-594 [(R)-5-(2-azetidinylmethoxy)-2-chloropyridine]: a novel, orally effective antinociceptive agent acting via neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors: II. In vivo characterization.
The antinociceptive effects of ABT-594, a novel nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) ligand, were examined in rats in models of acute thermal (hot box) and persistent chemical (formalin test) pain. Also, the effects of ABT-594 treatment on motor function and electroencephalogram (EEG) were determined. In the hot box and formalin test (i.e., phase 1 and 2), acute treatment with ABT-594 (0.03, 0.1 and 0.3 mumol/kg i.p.) produced significant dose-dependent antinociceptive effects. ⋯ In conclusion, these data demonstrate that ABT-594 is a potent antinociceptive agent with full efficacy in models of acute and persistent pain and that these effects are mediated predominately by an action at central neuronal nAChRs. In addition, antinociceptive effects were maintained after repeated dosing, whereas effects of ABT-594 on motor and temperature measures were attenuated in animals treated repeatedly with ABT-594. Thus, compounds acting at nAChRs may represent a novel approach for the treatment of a variety of pain states.