SB-334867-A: the first selective orexin-1 receptor antagonist

The pharmacology of various peptide and non-peptide ligands was studied in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells stably expressing human orexin-1 (OX1) or orexin-2 (OX2) receptors by measuring intracellular calcium ([Ca2+]i) using Fluo-3AM. Orexin-A and orexin-B increased [Ca2+]i in CHO-OX1 (pEC50=8.38±0.04 and 7.26±0.05 respectively, n=12) and CHO-OX2 (pEC50=8.20±0.03 and 8.26±0.04 respectively, n=8) cells. However, neuropeptide Y and secretin (10 pM – 10 μM) displayed neither agonist nor antagonist properties in either cell-line. SB-334867-A (1-(2-Methyylbenzoxanzol-6-yl)-3-[1,5]naphthyridin-4-yl-urea hydrochloride) inhibited the orexin-A (10 nM) and orexin-B (100 nM)-induced calcium responses (pKB=7.27±0.04 and 7.23±0.03 respectively, n=8), but had no effect on the UTP (3 μM)-induced calcium response in CHO-OX1 cells. SB-334867-A (10 μM) also inhibited OX2 mediated calcium responses (32.7±1.9% versus orexin-A). SB-334867-A was devoid of agonist properties in either cell-line. In conclusion, SB-334867-A is a non-peptide OX1 selective receptor antagonist. British Journal of Pharmacology (2001) 132, 1179–1182; doi:10.1038/sj.bjp.0703953