scholarly journals RTICBM-74 is a Brain-Penetrant CB1 Receptor Allosteric Modulator that Reduces Alcohol Intake in Rats

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis F Lovelock ◽  
Thuy Nguyen ◽  
Kalynn Van Voorhies ◽  
Yanan Zhang ◽  
Joyce Besheer

The endocannabinoid system is implicated in the neuronal mechanisms of alcohol use disorder (AUD), with the cannabinoid receptor subtype 1 (CB1) representing a promising target for AUD therapeutic interventions. We have previously shown negative allosteric modulators (NAMs) of the CB1 receptor attenuated the reinstatement of other drugs of abuse including cocaine and methamphetamine in rats; however, their effects on alcohol-related behaviors have not been investigated. Here, we tested the pharmacokinetic properties of one such CB1 NAM, RTICBM-74, and its effects on alcohol self-administration in rats. RTICBM-74 showed low aqueous solubility and high protein binding but had excellent half-life and low clearance against rat liver microsomes and hepatocytes, and excellent brain penetrance in rats. RTICBM-74 pretreatment specifically reduced alcohol intake across a range of doses in male or female Wistar or Long-Evans rats that were trained to self-administer alcohol. These effects were similar to the CB1 antagonist/inverse agonist rimonabant which was tested as a positive control. Importantly, RTICBM-74 was effective at reducing alcohol intake at doses that did not affect locomotion or sucrose self-administration. Our findings suggest that CB1 NAMs such as RTICBM-74 have promising therapeutic potential in treatment of AUD.

Author(s):  
Shayna L. O’Connor ◽  
Jennifer E. Fragale ◽  
Morgan H James ◽  
Gary Aston-Jones

AbstractThe orexin (hypocretin) system is critical for motivated seeking of all drugs of abuse, including opioids. In 2019, the National Institute on Drug Addiction (NIDA) identified the orexin system as a high priority target mechanism for novel pharmacological therapies to treat opioid use disorder (OUD). Suvorexant (Belsomra™) is a dual orexin receptor 1/orexin receptor 2 (OxR1/OxR2) antagonist that is FDA-approved for the treatment of insomnia, and thus has the potential to be readily repurposed for the treatment of OUD. However, studies have yet to test the therapeutic potential of suvorexant with respect to reducing opioid-related behaviors. Accordingly, here we investigated the efficacy of suvorexant in reducing several addiction-relevant behaviors in fentanyl self-administrating rats. In rats with limited drug experience, suvorexant decreased motivation for fentanyl on a behavioral economics (BE) task. This effect was greatest in rats with the highest motivation for fentanyl. Suvorexant was even more effective at decreasing motivation for fentanyl following induction of a more robust addiction phenotype by intermittent access (IntA) self-administration of the opioid. Suvorexant also attenuated punished responding for fentanyl and reduced cued reinstatement in IntA rats. Suvorexant did not affect general locomotor activity or natural reward seeking, indicating that at the doses used here, suvorexant can be used to reduce drug seeking with limited sedative or off-target effects. Together, these results highlight the therapeutic potential of suvorexant, particularly in individuals with the severe OUD.


Biomolecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 855 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Murphy ◽  
Bernard Le Foll

Obesity rates are increasing worldwide and there is a need for novel therapeutic treatment options. The endocannabinoid system has been linked to homeostatic processes, including metabolism, food intake, and the regulation of body weight. Rimonabant, an inverse agonist for the cannabinoid CB1 receptor, was effective at producing weight loss in obese subjects. However, due to adverse psychiatric side effects, rimonabant was removed from the market. More recently, we reported an inverse relationship between cannabis use and BMI, which has now been duplicated by several groups. As those results may appear contradictory, we review here preclinical and clinical studies that have studied the impact on body weight of various cannabinoid CB1 drugs. Notably, we will review the impact of CB1 inverse agonists, agonists, partial agonists, and neutral antagonists. Those findings clearly point out the cannabinoid CB1 as a potential effective target for the treatment of obesity. Recent preclinical studies suggest that ligands targeting the CB1 may retain the therapeutic potential of rimonabant without the negative side effect profile. Such approaches should be tested in clinical trials for validation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 134
Author(s):  
Ewa Galaj ◽  
Zheng-Xiong Xi

Substance use disorder (SUD) is a serious public health problem worldwide for which available treatments show limited effectiveness. Since the legalization of cannabis and the approval of cannabidiol (CBD) by the US Food and Drug Administration, therapeutic potential of CBD for the treatment of SUDs and other diseases has been widely explored. In this mini-review article, we first review the history and evidence supporting CBD as a potential pharmacotherapeutic. We then focus on recent progress in preclinical research regarding the pharmacological efficacy of CBD and the underlying receptor mechanisms on addictive-like behavior. Growing evidence indicates that CBD has therapeutic potential in reducing drug reward, as assessed in intravenous drug self-administration, conditioned place preference and intracranial brain-stimulation reward paradigms. In addition, CBD is effective in reducing relapse in experimental animals. Both in vivo and in vitro receptor mechanism studies indicate that CBD may act as a negative allosteric modulator of type 1 cannabinoid (CB1) receptor and an agonist of type 2 cannabinoid (CB2), transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1), and serotonin 5-HT1A receptors. Through these multiple-receptor mechanisms, CBD is believed to modulate brain dopamine in response to drugs of abuse, leading to attenuation of drug-taking and drug-seeking behavior. While these findings suggest that CBD is a promising therapeutic candidate, further investigation is required to verify its safety, pharmacological efficacy and the underlying receptor mechanisms in both experimental animals and humans.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
LiJuan Wang ◽  
Yan Liu ◽  
Rui Li ◽  
DongXian He

Objectives: Triptolide (TPL) has been shown to have a good clinical effect on rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We designed TPL microspheres (TPL-MS) and investigated its metabolic behavior in human, dog, rabbit and rat liver microsomes (HLM, DLM, RLM and SDRLM) with UPLC-MS/MS method. Methods: First, a UPLC-MS/MS method was established to measure concentration of TPL in samples. The sample was separated on a C18 column (2.1×100 mm, 1.8μm) and eluted with a gradient elution. The precursor ion/product ion were m/z 378.1/361.0 for TPL and 260.0/116.2 for the internal standard. Then T1/2, Vmax and CLint were calculated from the above data. Finally, the metabolites of TPL-MS were identified by high-resolution UPLC-MS/MS. The sample was separated on a C18 column (2.1×100 mm, 2.2 μm) and eluted with isocratic elution. Mass spectrometric detection was carried out on a thermo Q-exactive mass spectrometer with HESI. The scanning range of precursor ions was from m/z 50 to m/z 750. Result and Discussion: Through several indicators including standard curve, precision, accuracy, stability, matrix effect and recovery rate, the enzymatic kinetics parameters including T1/2, Vmax and CLint were completed. Several metabolites of TPL-MS were identified. Conclusion: UPLC-MS/MS method is an accurate and sensitive method for determination of TPL in liver microsome samples with good precision, accuracy and stability. The variation of parameters indicated that the microspheres can delay the elimination of TPL in liver microsomes. The metabolism of TPL-MS varied among species, but no new metabolites appeared.


Pharmaceutics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 776
Author(s):  
Sin-Eun Kim ◽  
Seung-Bae Ji ◽  
Euihyeon Kim ◽  
Minseon Jeong ◽  
Jina Kim ◽  
...  

DN203368 ((E)-3-[1-(4-[4-isopropylpiperazine-1-yl]phenyl) 3-methyl-2-phenylbut-1-en-1-yl] phenol) is a 4-hydroxy tamoxifen analog that is a dual inverse agonist of estrogen-related receptor β/γ (ERRβ/γ). ERRγ is an orphan nuclear receptor that plays an important role in development and homeostasis and holds potential as a novel therapeutic target in metabolic diseases such as diabetes mellitus, obesity, and cancer. ERRβ is also one of the orphan nuclear receptors critical for many biological processes, such as development. We investigated the in vitro metabolism of DN203368 by conventional and metabolomic approaches using high-resolution mass spectrometry. The compound (100 μM) was incubated with rat and human liver microsomes in the presence of NADPH. In the metabolomic approach, the m/z value and retention time information obtained from the sample and heat-inactivated control group were statistically evaluated using principal component analysis and orthogonal partial least-squares discriminant analysis. Significant features responsible for group separation were then identified using tandem mass spectra. Seven metabolites of DN203368 were identified in rat liver microsomes and the metabolic pathways include hydroxylation (M1-3), N-oxidation (M4), N-deisopropylation (M5), N,N-dealkylation (M6), and oxidation and dehydrogenation (M7). Only five metabolites (M2, M3, and M5-M7) were detected in human liver microsomes. In the conventional approach using extracted ion monitoring for values of mass increase or decrease by known metabolic reactions, only five metabolites (M1-M5) were found in rat liver microsomes, whereas three metabolites (M2, M3, and M5) were found in human liver microsomes. This study revealed that nontargeted metabolomics combined with high-resolution mass spectrometry and multivariate analysis could be a more efficient tool for drug metabolite identification than the conventional approach. These results might also be useful for understanding the pharmacokinetics and metabolism of DN203368 in animals and humans.


Author(s):  
Hua‐Hai Zhang ◽  
Wen‐Jia Yang ◽  
Ya‐Jun Huang ◽  
Wen‐Jing Li ◽  
Shuo‐Xin Zhang ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Mieszkowska ◽  
Koleta Hemine ◽  
Anna Skwierawska ◽  
Ewa Augustin ◽  
Zofia Mazerska

AbstractThe present studies were carried out to evaluate the simultaneous one-pot metabolism of opipramol (IS-opi) and analog (IS-noh) by phase I and phase II enzymes present in rat liver microsomes (RLM) as an alternative to separate testing with recombinant enzymes. This approach allows for more time-saving and cost-effective screening of the metabolism of newly discovered drugs. We also considered that the lack of results for phase II, including UGT, often creates problems in correct selection of valuable compounds. Moreover, microsomes data set is richer in the contest and provides medical scientist to determine also the susceptibility of drugs to undergo phase I and then phase II. In the present work, we have shown that IS-noh was metabolized in vitro by phase I enzymes to the oxidation product, which was next transformed with UGTs to glucuronide. The results showed also that the previously known oxidation product of opipramol was changed to previously no reported glucuronidation product by UDP-glucuronosyltransferases. In addition, unlike IS-noh, opipramol did not prove to be the substrate for UGTs. Therefore, tricyclic antidepressants depending on the structure can trigger a different response after contact with UGT enzymes. Some will metabolize directly with UGTs, others only after activation by phase I enzymes.


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