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Background and Purpose: We evaluated the effects of 1-(3',4'-dichloro-2-fluoro[1,1'-biphenyl]-4-yl)-cyclopropanecarboxylic acid (CHF5074), a new gamma-secretase modulator, on brain beta-amyloid pathology and spatial memory in transgenic mice expressing the Swedish and London mutations of human amyloid precursor protein (hAPP).Experimental Approach: Sixty 6-month-old hAPP mice were treated for 6 months with CHF5074 or ibuprofen (375 ppm in the diet) or standard diet. Twenty-one wild-type mice received standard diet.Key Results: Compared with transgenic controls, CHF5074 treatment significantly reduced the area occupied by plaques in cortex (P = 0.003) and hippocampus (P = 0.004). The number of plaques were also reduced by CHF5074 in both cortex (P = 0.022) and hippocampus (P = 0.005). Plaque-associated microglia in CHF5074-treated animals was lower than in transgenic controls in cortex (P = 0.008) and hippocampus (P = 0.002). Ibuprofen treatment significantly reduced microglia area in cortex and hippocampus but not beta-amyloid burden. On the last day of the Morris water maze, transgenic controls performed significantly worse than the non-transgenic animals and the CHF5074-treated transgenic mice, on the swimming path to reach the hidden platform. Ibuprofen-treated animals did not perform significantly better than transgenic controls.Conclusions and Implications: Chronic CHF5074 treatment reduced brain beta-amyloid burden, associated microglia inflammation and attenuated spatial memory deficit in hAPP mice. This novel gamma-secretase modulator is a promising therapeutic agent for Alzheimer's disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nerve growth factor (NGF) is the protein responsible for the development and maintenance of sensory skin innervation. Given the role of appropriate innervation in skin healing, NGF has been indicated as a possible prohealing treatment in pathologic conditions characterized by nerve-ending loss, such as chronic ulcers in diabetes; however, its use as a therapeutic agent is limited by its hyperalgesic effect. We tested the effect of topical application of the nonalgogenic NGF derivative hNGFP61S/R100E in two models of skin ulcer induced in dbdb diabetic mice, investigating healing time, skin histology, reinnervation, and angiogenesis using morphologic and molecular approaches. We showed that the topical administration of CHF6467, a recombinant human NGF in which an amino acid substitution (R100E) abolished the hyperalgesic effect usually associated with NGF, accelerated skin repair in experimental wounds (full-excision and pressure-ulcer) induced in diabetic mice ( dbdb ). CHF6467-induced acceleration of wound healing was accompanied by increased re-epithelization, reinnervation, and revascularization as assessed by histology, immunohistochemistry, and image analysis. Bioinformatic analysis of differentially expressed genes and signaling pathways in the wound tissues showed that protein kinase B-mammalian target of rapamycin was the most regulated pathway. In spite of the transdermal absorption leading to measurable, dose-dependent increases in CHF6467 plasma levels, no systemic thermal or local mechanical hyperalgesia was observed in treated mice. When tested in vitro in human cell lines, CHF6467 stimulated keratinocyte and fibroblast proliferation and tube formation by endothelial cells. Collectively, these results support a possible use of CHF6467 as a prohealing agent in skin lesions in diabetes. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Topical application of CHF6467 accelerates reinnervation, neoangiogenesis, and wound healing in diabetic mice in both full-thickness skin-excision and pressure-ulcer models through the protein kinase B/mammalian target of rapamycin pathway and does not induce hyperalgesia., (Copyright © 2020 by The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.)

A series of 5H-dibenz[b,f]azepine derivatives was prepared and evaluated for binding affinities to muscarinic receptors in vitro. Among them, compound 8 showed a high affinity for human recombinant M2 receptors (Ki=2.6 nm), a low affinity for M4 receptors (39-fold less than for M2 receptors) and a very low affinity for M1 and M3 receptors (119- and 112-fold less than for M2 receptors, respectively). The high M2 selectivity of 8 may be attributed to the olefinic bond of the azepine ring. Functional experiments showed 8 to be a competitive antagonist with high affinity to the cardiac (pA2=7.1) and low affinity to the intestinal muscarinic receptors (IC50=0.54 microM). In vivo experiments confirmed the in vitro M, selectivity of 8. Acetylcholine-induced bradycardia was dose-dependently antagonized in rats after both intravenous and intraduodenal administration of 8. In rats, cholinergic functions mediated by M1 or M3 receptors (salivary secretion, pupil diameter, gastric emptying, intestinal transit time) were not affected by the oral administration of 8 even at doses as high as 30 times the antibradycardic effective dose. Furthermore, 8 had no analgesic activity in mice, indicating poor central nervous system penetration. In dogs, nocturnal bradycardia was dose-dependently inhibited by the oral route with a duration of action of about 24 h. Compound 8 appears to be a promising cardioselective antimuscarinic agent for the treatment of dysfunctions of the cardiac conduction system such as sinus or nodal bradycardia ("sick-sinus syndrome") and atrioventricular block.

Eptastigmine (MF 201) is a new physostigmine derivative with potent inhibitory activity on cholinesterases. Here we present a new potentiometric cholinesterase activity assay suitable for MF 201 monitoring. The analysis is performed on a differential pH system and has the following characteristics: (a) within-run precision: C.V. 2.0% (plasma cholinesterase), 1.8% (red cell cholinesterase); (b) between-run precision: C.V. 4.0% (plasma cholinesterase); (c) linearity: 1-10 kU/l (plasma cholinesterase), 6-70 U/g Hb (red cell cholinesterase); (d) comparison with a reference method (x, HITACHI 737 Boerhinger Mannheim, Italy): y = 0.785x - 0.07; n = 37; r = 0.998. The assay has been applied to the determination of plasma and red cell cholinesterase activity in volunteers over 60 years of age treated with a single oral dose of 30 mg eptastigmine. We found that red cell cholinesterase is selectively inhibited after MF 201 administration with the following kinetics (time, % of inhibition, mean +/- S.E., n = 6): 0 h, 0; 1 h, 17 +/- 4.6; 2 h, 24 +/- 4; 4 h, 23 +/- 4.4; 12 h, 14 +/- 3. Eptastigmine plasma levels were also determined by a HPLC method: maximum concentration was found one hour after drug administration.

Single i.v. bolus doses of dermatan sulphate MF701 were administered before the onset of haemodialysis to patients with chronic renal failure, to prevent clotting in the extracorporeal circuit. Six patients received 2 mg kg-1; six were given 2.5 and 3 mg kg-1; 13 received 4.5 and 6 mg kg-1. Plasma MF701 concentrations (chromogenic assay), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and plasma markers of coagulation and platelet activation (TAT and beta-TG) were measured over 4 or 8 h from the onset of dialysis. The disposition of MF701 was described by a monoexponential function. C(0) and AUC values increased proportionally with dose. Volumes of distribution (approximately 4 l) were dose-independent. Half-lives showed a non significant increase with dose (from 2.2 to 3.1 h) and were 2.5-3 times longer than those reported for healthy subjects. There was a significant correlation between plasma MF701 concentration and its effects in prolonging APTT and suppressing TAT and beta-TG generation during dialysis.

1. The pharmacokinetics of mifentidine, a new long acting histamine H2-receptor antagonist, were studied using two protocols. 2. In one study, on 5 different days six normal male subjects were given 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 mg mifentidine or placebo orally 60 min before starting a 3 h continuous gastric aspiration during which time blood samples were taken for measurement of mifentidine concentration. 3. The area under the curves of mifentidine plasma levels (AUC) vs time for the four doses was linearly related to the dose for each individual subject (r = 0.972, P less than 0.001). After doses of 2.5, 5, 10 and 20 mg, mifentidine reduced hydrogen ion output by respectively 36, 37, 60 and 75% and secretory volume by 1, 17, 40, and 47%. The effects at the two highest doses were statistically significant. AUC was correlated positively with the percentage reduction in hydrogen ion output (r = 0.802, P less than 0.001) and volume (r = 0.834, P less than 0.001) over a 3 h period. 4. In the second study, the pharmacokinetics were evaluated after once-daily treatment for 14 days in seven subjects given 10 mg and in seven others subjects given 20 mg. 5. After multiple dosing, renal clearance was similar for the two doses (11.6 +/- 2.11 l h-1 for the low dose and 17.0 +/- 2.0 l h-1 for the high dose). Plasma half-life (t1/2 lambda 2) was 16.0 +/- 3.0 h after the 10 mg dose and 11.9 +/- 1.2 h after 20 mg.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)