Martin Edward Judge

Hypothalamic CART is a new anorectic peptide regulated by leptin

The mammalian hypothalamus strongly influences ingestive behaviour through several different signalling molecules and receptor systems. Here we show that CART (cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript), a brain-located peptide, is a satiety factor and is closely associated with the actions of two important regulators of food intake, leptin and neuropeptide Y. Food-deprived animals show a pronounced decrease in expression of CART messenger RNA in the arcuate nucleus. In animal models of obesity with disrupted leptin signalling, CART mRNA is almost absent from the arcuate nucleus. Peripheral administration of leptin to obese mice stimulates CART mRNA expression. When injected intracerebroventricularly into rats, recombinant CART peptide inhibits both normal and starvation-induced feeding, and completely blocks the feeding response induced by neuropeptide Y. An antiserum against CART increases feeding in normal rats, indicating that CART may be an endogenous inhibitor of food intake in normal animals.

The γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) uptake inhibitor, tiagabine, increases extracellular brain levels of GABA in awake rats

The effect of systemic administration of the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) uptake inhibitor, R(-)N-(4,4-di(3-methyl-thien-2-yl)-but-3-enyl) nipecotic acid, hydrochloride (tiagabine) (previously NO-328), on extracellular GABA levels in the globus pallidus, ventral pallidum and substantia nigra of awake Sprague-Dawley rats was investigated using in vivo microdialysis. Tiagabine was administered in doses of 11.5 or 21.0 mg/kg i.p. (ED50 and ED85 doses, respectively, for inhibiting pentylenetetrazole-induced tonic seizures). Tiagabine increased the extracellular concentrations of GABA in globus pallidus with peak values 310% of basal level (after 21 mg/kg) and 240% of basal level (after 11.5 mg/kg). A significant increase in extracellular GABA levels was also found in the ventral pallidum (280% increase after 11.5 mg/kg and 350% increase after 21 mg/kg) and in the substantia nigra where the ED85 dose of tiagabine (21 mg/kg) produced a peak value of 200% compared to the basal level. Thus, tiagabine acts as a GABA uptake inhibitor in vivo also.

Purification and characterisation of a new hypothalamic satiety peptide, cocaine and amphetamine regulated transcript (CART), produced in yeast

Cocaine and amphetamine regulated transcript (CART) is a newly discovered hypothalamic peptide with a potent appetite suppressing activity following intracerebroventricular administration. When the mature rat CART sequence encoding CART(1–102) was inserted in the yeast expression plasmid three CART peptides could be purified from the fermentation broth reflecting processing at dibasic sequences. None of these corresponded to the naturally occurring CART(55–102). In order to obtain CART(55–102) the precursor Glu‐Glu‐Ile‐Asp‐CART(55–102) has been produced and CART(55–102) was generated by digestion of the precursor with dipeptidylaminopeptidase‐1. All four generated CART peptides have been characterised by N‐terminal amino acid sequencing and mass spectrometry. The CART peptides contain six cysteine residues and using the yeast expressed CART(62–102) the disulphide bond configuration was found to be I–III, II–V and IV–VI. When the four CART peptides were intracerebroventricularly injected in fasted mice (0.1 to 2.0 μg) they all produced a dose dependent inhibition of food intake.

The hypothalamic satiety peptide CART is expressed in anorectic and non-anorectic pancreatic islet tumors and in the normal islet of Langerhans

The hypothalamic satiety peptide CART (cocaine and amphetamine regulated transcript) is expressed at high levels in anorectic rat glucagonomas but not in hypoglycemic insulinomas. However, a non‐anorectic metastasis derived from the glucagonoma retained high CART expression levels and produced circulating CART levels comparable to that of the anorectic tumors. Moreover, distinct glucagonoma lines derived by stable HES‐1 transfection of the insulinoma caused severe anorexia but retained low circulating levels of CART comparable to that of insulinoma bearing or control rats. Islet tumor associated anorexia and circulating CART levels are thus not correlated, and in line with this peripheral administration of CART (5–50 mg/kg) produced no effect on feeding behavior. In the rat two alternatively spliced forms of CART mRNA exist and quantitative PCR revealed expression of both forms in the hypothalamus, in the different islet tumors, and in the islets of Langerhans. Immunocytochemistry as well as in situ hybridization localized CART expression to the somatostatin producing islet D cell. A potential endocrine/paracrine role of islet CART remains to be clarified.

Protection against post-ischemic behavioral pathology by the α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) antagonist 2,3-dihydroxy-6-nitro-7-sulfamoyl-benzo(f)quinoxaline (NBQX) in the gerbil

The neuroprotective effects of NBQX (2,3-dihydroxy-6-nitro-7-sulfamoyl-benzo(f)quinoxaline) were assessed on hippocampal CA1 neuronal loss and locomotor hyperactivity following transient bilateral carotid artery occlusion (BCAO) in the gerbil. NBQX, a selective blocker of the AMPA glutamate receptor subtype, was injected 1 h after 5 or 10 min BCAO, or sham surgery. Both 5 and 10 min ischemia produced equivalent hyperactivity 3 days post ischemia and CA1 neuronal loss on Day 4, while activity was unchanged in the sham-operated group. NBQX protected from both hippocampal damage and post-ischemic hyperactivity. These results demonstrate that NBQX can protect from behavioral pathology induced by global cerebral ischemia.

Inhibition of cisplatin-induced emesis in ferrets by the non-NMDA receptor antagonists NBQX and CNQX.

The excitatory amino acid (EAA) receptor antagonists, 2,3-dihydroxy-6-nitro-7-sulphamoylbenzo(f)quinoxaline (NBQX) and 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione (CNQX), which preferentially block non-N-methyl-D-aspartate (non-NMDA) subtypes of EAA receptors, effectively inhibit cisplatin-induced emesis in ferrets. A high dose of cisplatin (10 mg/kg i.v.) was used which induced emesis in all saline-treated control ferrets. At 10 mg/kg i.v., NBQX totally prevented cisplatin-induced emesis in 5 of 6 ferrets and CNQX totally prevented emesis in 3 of 5 ferrets. By comparison, each of the 5-HT3 inhibitors, zacopride and ondansetron, at 1.0 mg/kg i.v. (a dose considered in the high therapeutic range for controlling emesis by these compounds), totally prevented emesis in 2 of 5 ferrets. It is concluded that non-NMDA antagonists effectively inhibit cisplatin-induced emesis. They are potential antiemetic compounds, alone or in combination with 5-HT3 antagonists or other more conventional drugs of choice.

Anticonvulsant profile of the imidazoquinazolines NNC 14-0185 and NNC 14-0189 in rats and mice

The anticonvulsant effects of NNC 14-0185 (3-(3-cyclopropyl-5-isoxazolyl)-6-fluoro-5-morpholino-imidazo[1,5- a] quinazoline) and NNC 14-0189 (3-(5-cyclopropyl-1,2, 4-oxadiazol-3-yl)-7-fluoro-5-(4-methyl-1-piperazinyl)-imidazo[1,5- a] quinazoline) in mice and rats were evaluated and compared with those of diazepam, clonazepam and the novel beta-carboline, abecarnil. Following i.p. administration, NNC 14-0185 and NNC 14-0189 prevented audiogenic seizures in DBA/2 mice and the clonic convulsions induced in mice by pentylenetetrazole, DMCM (methyl 6, 7-dimethoxy-4-ethyl-beta-carboline-3-carboxylate), 3-mercaptopropionic acid and a low dose of bicuculline. NNC 14-0185 and NNC 14-0189 prevented seizures induced by pentylenetetrazole in rats and were also effective anticonvulsants in amygdala-kindled rats. In general, the anticonvulsant potencies of NNC 14-0185 and NNC 14-0189 were comparable to those of the reference benzodiazepines. However, like abecarnil, they were not effective against the seizures induced in mice by maximal electroshock and a high dose of bicuculline. The anticonvulsant effects of NNC 14-0185 and NNC 14-0189 against pentylenetetrazole-induced seizures were apparent within 5 min of i.p. injection and persisted for at least 2 h. These effects appeared to be mediated by benzodiazepine receptors since they were inhibited by concurrent administration of flumazenil. Both NNC 14-0185 and NNC 14-0189 showed greater separation between their anticonvulsant and muscle relaxant effects (measured as impaired rotarod performance) than did diazepam. In this respect, their therapeutic windows were similar (NNC 14-0185) to or better (NNC 14-0189) than that of abecarnil. Tolerance did not develop to the anticonvulsant effects of NNC 14-0185 and NNC 14-0189 over a 4-day test. In comparison, the anticonvulsant effects of diazepam and abecarnil were attenuated by repeated drug administration. Thus, NNC 14-0185 and NNC 14-0189 have a promising anticonvulsant and side-effect profile in comparison with diazepam, clonazepam and abecarnil. The potential use of these compounds in the treatment of epilepsy should be explored further.

Anticonvulsant Actions of Novel and Reference Adenosine Agonists

A host of potential mechanisms exist by which manipulation of neurotransmission in the central nervous system (CNS) can lead to inhibition of seizures in mammals. This reflects the complex nature of the diverse disease states that result in the group of symptoms collectively known as epilepsy. The research group at Novo Nordisk has previously discovered agents with clinical anticonvulsant activity, such as Tiagabine (structure 1, Fig. 51–1), an inhibitor of the synaptosomal uptake of gamma-aminobutyric acid [1] and Abecarnil (2, Fig. 51–1), a βcarboline benzodiazepine partial agonist [2], both of which facilitate inhibitory neurotransmission. Antagonists at the excitatory amino acid (EAA) receptor subtypes, such as the AMPA receptor, the metabotropic glutamate receptor [3], and glycine receptors [4] (3, 4 and 5, Fig. 51–1), have also been shown to exhibit anticonvulsant properties in rodent seizure models.

Identification of novel (isoxazole)methylene-1-azabicyclic compounds with high affinity for the central nicotinic cholinergic receptor

Abstract A novel class of compounds with high affinity (IC50 = 3.4 – 500 nM) for the central nicotinic cholinergic receptor was synthesized. The compounds were characterized in vitro and in vivo and compared to ABT 418 and nicotine. The new ligands are effective nicotinic compounds with biological profiles distinguishable from reference compounds.