Bryan B. Molloy

A selective inhibitor of serotonin uptake: Lilly 110140, 3-(p-Trifluoromethylphenoxy)-n-methyl-3-phenylpropylamine

Abstract Lilly 110140 is a highly selective inhibitor of serotonin uptake into synaptosomes of rat brain, unlike previous monoamine uptake inhibitors that also inhibit the uptake of norepinephrine and dopamine. Lilly 110140 should be useful in studying the function of serotoninergic neurons and may be helpful in clariying the role of serotonin in certain types of mental depression.

Effect of an uptake inhibitor on serotonin metabolism in rat brain: Studies with 3-(p-trifluoromethylphenoxy)-n-methyl-3-phenylpropylamine (Lilly 110140)

Summary Lilly 110140 is an inhibitor of serotonin uptake by brain synaptosomes. In rats, it had no effect on brain levels of tryptophan, serotonin, dopamine, or norepinephrine, but it decreased 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5HIAA) levels. The decrease in 5HIAA levels was dose-related over a 1–20 mg/kg i.p. dose range and persisted for at least 24 hrs after a 10 mg/kg dose of 110140. The decline in 5HIAA levels occurred mostly in the cerebral hemispheres and midbrain and apparently resulted from a reduced turnover of serotonin. Reduced turnover was indicated by a decreased rate of fall in brain serotonin levels after p-chlorophenylalamine was given to inhibit serotonin synthesis. Turnover rates calculated from the rate of 5HIAA accumulation in brain after probenecid injection were 0.18 μg/g/hr in control rats and 0.066 μg/g/hr in 110140-treated rats. The decline in serotonin turnover presumably is a compensatory mechanism occurring when receptor sites are overstimulated due to blockade of the reuptake (inactivation) of serotonin at the nerve synapse.

Reversible and irreversible phases of serotonin depletion by 4-chloroamphetamine

Pretreatment of rats with an agent that inhibits uptake into serotoninergic neurons [Lilly 110140: 3-(p-trifluoromethylphenoxy)-N-methyl-3-phenylpropylamine hydrochloride] prevented the depletion of brain serotonin by 4-chloroamphetamine, presumably by preventing the entry of 4-chloroamphetamine into the serotonin neuron. When the uptake inhibitor was given after 4-chloroamphetamine, the lowering of both serotonin and tryptophan hydroxylase levels in brain was reversed. Serotonin levels returned to normal after 110140 administration to 4-chloroamphetamine-treated rats at a rate similar to the calculated rate of serotonin turnover in rats treated with 110140 alone. Progressively less reversibility of the 4-chloroamphetamine effect occurred when 110140 was injected at 8, 16 and 24 hr after 4-chloroamphetamine, and no reversibility was observed when 110140 was injected at 32 or 48 hr after 4-chloroamphetamine. These findings indicate that the depletion of brain serotonin by 4-chloroamphetamine is initially reversible but that there is a gradual transition into an irreversible effect between 24 and 48 hr after 4-chloroamphetamine injection. Apparently the prolonged presence of 4-chloroamphetamine inside the serotonin neuron produced by continual reuptake of 4-chloroamphetamine is required for the semi-permanent depletion of brain serotonin stores.

Pharmacologic evidence for a serotonin neural pathway involved in hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal function in rats.

Abstract The hypothesis that a serotonin neural pathway stimulates ACTH secretion in rats was supported by pharmacologic data. Fluoxetine, an inhibitor of serotonin reuptake, caused a dose-related elevation of plasma corticosterone levels in intact but not in hypophysectomized rats. The previously-reported elevation of plasma corticosterone by 5-hydroxytryptophan (5HTP) was confirmed and shown to be stereospecific, L-5HTP being much more active than D-5HTP. Simultaneous injection of subeffective doses of fluoxetine and L-5HTP caused marked elevation of plasma corticosterone. Fluoxetine pretreatment potentiated the elevation of plasma corticosterone by L-5HTP. Although the elevation of plasma corticosterone by fluoxetine was of short duration (perhaps due to compensatory reduction of serotonin release), the potentiation of the L-5HTP effect by fluoxetine lasted for more than 24 hrs as predicted by the duration of uptake inhibition by fluoxetine. The dose-response characteristics for corticosterone elevation and L-5HTP potentiation by fluoxetine were similar to those for serotonin uptake blockade.

The effects of quipazine on serotonin metabolism in rat brain.

Quipazine, 2-(1-piperazinyl)-quinoline, is a drug that has been reported to stimulate serotonin receptors in brain. We therefore studied the effect of quipazine on several parameters of serotonin metabolism in rat brain. Quipazine caused a slight, dose-related elevation of serotonin levels and decrease in 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid levels for 2–4 hrs after it was administered. The decrease in 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid levels was probably due primarily to a depression of 5-hydroxyindole synthesis, since quipazine also decreased the rate of 5-hydroxytryptophan accumulation after NSD 1015, the rate of serotonin decline after α-propyldopacetamide, and the rate of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid accumulation after probenecid. The elevation of serotonin was probably due to weak inhibition of monoamine oxidase. Quipazine reversibly inhibited the oxidation of serotonin by rat brain monoamine oxidase invitro and protected against the irreversible inactivation of the enzyme invivo. Quipazine also was a potent inhibitor of serotonin uptake into brain synaptosomes invitro and attained concentrations in brain higher than the invitro IC50. However, quipazine did not prevent the depletion of brain serotonin by p-chloroamphetamine invivo. In addition to stimulating serotonin receptors in brain, quipazine may inhibit monoamine oxidase and serotonin reuptake invivo.

Effect of 1-(m-trifluoromethylphenyl)-piperazine on 3H-serotonin binding to membranes from rat brain in vitro and on serotonin turnover in rat brain in vivo

1-(m-Trifluoromethylphenyl)-piperazine inhibited the specific binding of tritiated serotonin to membranes from rat brain in vitro at lower concentrations than did quipazine or MK-212 (6-chloro-2-[1-piperazinyl]-pyrazine). In rats 1-(m-trifluoromethylphenyl)-piperazine decreased the concentration of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) without altering the concentration of serotonin in whole brain. The decrease in 5-HIAA was apparently due to a decrease in serotonin turnover, since 1-(m-trifluoromethylphenyl)-piperazine caused a slower decline in serotonin concentration after synthesis inhibition by alpha-propyldopacetamide and a slower accumulation of 5-HIAA after probenecid injection to block its efflux from brain. The decrease in serotonin turnover is an expected result of stimulating serotonin receptors in brain and has earlier been reported to occur with quipazine. Thus all of the results are compatible with the idea that 1-(m-trifluoromethylphenyl)-piperazine acts as a serotonin receptor agonist in rat brain.

Clofilium1--a new antifibrillatory agent that selectively increases cellular refractoriness

Abstract Clofilium is the most promising member in a new series of antifibrillatory agents to selectively prolong cardiac action potential duration (APD) and effective refractory period (ERP). In normal superfused canine Purkinje fibers, clofilium prolonged APD and ERP by a maximum of 35% (ED 50 =1.3 × 10 −8 M). The effect of clofilium reached equilibrium in 61±3 min but APD did not return toward control during several hr of superfusion with drug-free medium. No change in rate of rise, amplitude, resting potential or rate of diastolic depolarization was noted in the presence of clofilium (3 × 10 −7 M). Clofilium increased the canine ventricular fibrillation threshold (VFT) measured using gated trains of electrical stimuli. This effect occurred in a dose-related fashion following a 30 min infusion of a total of 0.5 or 1.0 μmole/kg of clofilium. The increase was evident within 30 min after ending the infusion and persisted for at least 4 hr. Following the infusion of clofilium (1.0 μmole/kg) 22% of the episodes of ventricular fibrillation (VF) spontaneously reverted to normal sinus rhythm without the use of direct current countershock; this phenomenon did not occur in dextrose-infused dogs.

Comparison of the specificity of 3-(p-Trifluoromethylphenoxy)-N-methyl-3-phenypropylamine and chlorimipramine as amine uptake inhibitors in mice

Abstract The ability of 3-(p-triflouromethylphenoxy)-N-methyl-3-phenylpropylamine amine hydrochloride (Lilly 110140) and chlorimipramine to block uptake into serotoninergic and noradrenergic neurons was determined by their antagonism of serotonin depletion in brain by p-chloroamphetamine and norephrine depletion in heart by 6-hydroxydopamine, respectively. Lilly 110140 blocked serotonin depletion with an ED 50 of 0.4 mg/kg and had no effect on norepinephrine depletion at doses up to 32 mg/kg. Chlorimipramine antagonized both serotonin depletion and norepinephrine depletion with ED 50 values of 10 and 6 mg/kg, respectively.

Effects of kainic acid, a cyclic analogue of glutamic acid, on cyclic nucleotide accumulation in slices of rat cerebellum.

The concentration of cyclic AMP (cAMP) and cyclic GMP (cGMP) in slices of rat cerebellum was increased markedly in the presence of 100 muM kainic acid, a cyclic analogue of glutamic acid. No acitvity was detected in other brain areas at various dosed or incubation times. Ksainic acid was significantly more potent than glutamic acid and other glutamate-like compounds. The increases in cAMP and cGMP could be differentially inhibited with theophylline or cocaine respectively, but both systems required calcium. Compounds similar in structure to kainic acid or glutamate did not block the effects of kainic acid.

Properties of 8,9-dichloro-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H- 2-benzazepine, an inhibitor of norepinephrine N-methyltransferase

Abstract LY134046, 8,9-dichloro-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-2-benzazepine hydrochloride, was a potent inhibitor of norepinephrine N -methyltransferase (NMT) from rat brain or rabbit adrenal glands in vitro . The inhibition was competitive with respect to the methyl-accepting substrate, (-)-norepinephrine, the K i for LY134046 being 2.4 × 10 −8 M. LY134046 inhibited the NMT activity in rat brain stem and hypothalamus in vivo at doses of 10–40 mg/kg, i.p., and lowered the epinephrine (but not norepinephrine or dopamine) concentration in these brain regions. The epinephrine reduction produced by a single 40 mg/kg, i.p. dose of LY134046 persisted at 24 hr and daily injections of 10–40 mg/kg doses for 5 days produced cumulative reductions in epinephrine concentration. LY134046 was similar to SK&F 64139 (7,8-dichloro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline hydrochloride), a structurally related compound, as an inhibitor of NMT in vitro and in vivo , but the two compounds differed in their relative abilities to block α 2 receptors. SK&F 64139 was 20-to 50-fold more potent than LY134046 in antagonizing [ 3 H]clonidine binding to rat brain membranes and phenylephrine-induced contractions of rat aortic strips, but it was only about twice as potent as LY134046 in inhibiting NMT activity. LY134046 seems to be more selective than other currently known inhibitors of NMT and may be useful for pharmacologic intervention in the function of epinephrine-forming neurons in brain.