Evidence of CNIH3 involvement in opioid dependence.

Opioid dependence, a severe addictive disorder and major societal problem, has been demonstrated to be moderately heritable. We conducted a genome-wide association study in Comorbidity and Trauma Study data comparing opioid-dependent daily injectors (N=1167) with opioid misusers who never progressed to daily injection (N=161). The strongest associations, observed for CNIH3 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), were confirmed in two independent samples, the Yale-Penn genetic studies of opioid, cocaine and alcohol dependence and the Study of Addiction: Genetics and Environment, which both contain non-dependent opioid misusers and opioid-dependent individuals. Meta-analyses found five genome-wide significant CNIH3 SNPs. The A allele of rs10799590, the most highly associated SNP, was robustly protective (P=4.30E-9; odds ratio 0.64 (95% confidence interval 0.55-0.74)). Epigenetic annotation predicts that this SNP is functional in fetal brain. Neuroimaging data from the Duke Neurogenetics Study (N=312) provide evidence of this SNP's in vivo functionality; rs10799590 A allele carriers displayed significantly greater right amygdala habituation to threat-related facial expressions, a phenotype associated with resilience to psychopathology. Computational genetic analyses of physical dependence on morphine across 23 mouse strains yielded significant correlations for haplotypes in CNIH3 and functionally related genes. These convergent findings support CNIH3 involvement in the pathophysiology of opioid dependence, complementing prior studies implicating the α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) glutamate system.

Implication of delta opioid receptor subtype 2 but not delta opioid receptor subtype 1 in the development of morphine analgesic tolerance in a rat model of chronic inflammatory pain.

Opioids are well known for their robust analgesic effects. Chronic activation of mu opioid receptors (MOPs) is, however, accompanied by various unwanted effects such as analgesic tolerance. Among other mechanisms, interactions between MOPs and delta opioid receptors (DOPs) are thought to play an important role in morphine-induced behavioral adaptations. Interestingly, certain conditions such as inflammation enhance the function of the DOP through a MOP-dependent mechanism. Here, we investigated the role of DOPs during the development of morphine tolerance in an animal model of chronic inflammatory pain. Using behavioral approaches, we first established that repeated systemic morphine treatment induced morphine analgesic tolerance in rats coping with chronic inflammatory pain. We then observed that blockade of DOPs with subcutaneous naltrindole (NTI), a selective DOP antagonist, significantly attenuated the development of morphine tolerance in a dose-dependent manner. We confirmed that this effect was DOP mediated by showing that an acute injection of NTI had no effect on morphine-induced analgesia in naive animals. Previous pharmacological characterizations revealed the existence of DOP subtype 1 and DOP subtype 2. As opposed to NTI, 7-benzylidenenaltrexone and naltriben were reported to be selective DOP subtype 1 and DOP subtype 2 antagonists, respectively. Interestingly, naltriben but not 7-benzylidenenaltrexone was able to attenuate the development of morphine analgesic tolerance in inflamed rats. Altogether, our results suggest that targeting of DOP subtype 2 with antagonists provides a valuable strategy to attenuate the analgesic tolerance that develops after repeated morphine administration in the setting of chronic inflammatory pain.

Molecular determinants of MAO selectivity in a series of indolylmethylamine derivatives: biological activities, 3D-QSAR/CoMFA analysis, and computational simulation of ligand recognition.

A series of indolylmethylamine derivatives were assayed toward MAO-A and MAO-B inhibition. The K(i) values of these compounds are in the range from 0.8 to >10(6) nM for MAO-A or from 0.75 to 476000 nM for MAO-B. The most selective MAO-A or MAO-B inhibitors elicit a ratio of K(i) in the order of 1500 or 1000, respectively. Comparison of MAO-A and MAO-B CoMFA models showed that both the steric and electrostatic properties at the 5 position of the indole ring are determinant for MAO selectivity. Computational simulations of the complex between this part of the ligand and Phe-208 of MAO-A or Ile-199 of MAO-B, experimentally identified as responsible for substrate selectivity, allowed us to further characterize the nature of these enzyme-inhibitor interactions.

Kappa-opioid receptor activation prevents alterations in mesocortical dopamine neurotransmission that occur during abstinence from cocaine.

In vivo microdialysis was used to characterize basal dopamine dynamics and cocaine-evoked dopamine levels in the medial prefrontal cortex of male Sprague-Dawley rats that had previously received once daily injections of cocaine (days 1-5; 20mg/kg, i.p.) in combination with the selective kappa-opioid receptor agonist U-69593 (days 3-5; 0.32mg/kg, s.c.) or its vehicle. The influence of these treatments on [3H]dopamine uptake in medial prefrontal cortex synaptosomes was also determined. Three days following the cessation of drug treatment, animals with prior history of cocaine administration exhibited enhanced psychomotor stimulation in response to a subsequent cocaine challenge. This effect was not apparent in animals that had previously received the cocaine treatment regimen in combination with the kappa-opioid receptor agonist U-69593. Cocaine challenge increased prefrontal dopamine levels in all pretreatment groups, but cocaine-pre-exposed animals had lower cocaine-evoked dopamine levels and higher basal in vivo extraction fraction, indicative of an increase in basal dopamine uptake relative to controls. Pretreatment with U-69593 prevented these effects of cocaine. Measurement of [3H]dopamine uptake in synaptosomes revealed a significant increase in uptake three days after the cessation of cocaine treatment. No increase in uptake was observed in animals that had received the cocaine treatment regimen in combination with U-69593. These results demonstrate that the early phase of abstinence from cocaine is associated with marked alterations in medial prefrontal cortex dopamine neurotransmission and that these neuroadaptations are prevented by the activation of kappa-opioid receptors. Furthermore, they raise the possibility that mesocortical dopamine neurons may be an important neural substrate upon which kappa-opioid agonists act to prevent the development of cocaine-induced behavioral sensitization.

Evidence of a coupled mechanism between monoamine oxidase and peroxidase in the metabolism of tyramine by rat intestinal mitochondria.

The relationship between monoamine oxidase (EC 1.4.3.4; MAO) and peroxidase (EC 1.11.1.7; POD) in the metabolism of tyramine was investigated using the crude mitochondrial fraction of rat intestine. When tyramine was incubated with mitochondria, the formation of the peroxidase-catalysed oxidation product, 2,2'-dihydroxy-5,5'-bis(ethylamino)diphenyl (dityramine), identified by mass spectrometric analysis, was monitored spectrophotometrically. After an initial lag time, the formation rate of dityramine was linear up to 2 hr, amounting to 17 nmol x hr(-1) x mg protein(-1). A similar value was found for the oxidative deamination of tyramine catalysed by intestinal MAO. Either 10(-3) M clorgyline or 10(-3) M NaCN suppressed this reaction by completely inhibiting MAO or POD, respectively. In the former case, however, addition of H2O2 to the incubation mixture promptly started the reaction. Selective inhibition of MAO-A and MAO-B was achieved with 3 x 10(-7) M clorgyline and 3 x 10(-7) M deprenyl, respectively, and the formation rate of dityramine decreased in a corresponding manner. Preincubation with histamine or spermidine reduced the lag time without affecting the steady-state reaction rate. Higher levels of dityramine were also detected in vivo in rat intestine after oral administration of tyramine. These results indicate that the peroxidase-dependent metabolism of tyramine in the gut may be driven by H2O2 produced by MAO activities and that MAO-A is mainly responsible for this process, as well as for the oxidative deamination of tyramine.

"In vitro" effect of some 5-hydroxy-indolalkylamine derivatives on monoamine uptake system.

Three different indolalkylamine derivatives (FA 102, FA 69, FA 70) having in common an -OH group at 5 position of the indole ring and differing in the presence of a methyl group at the N or the acetylenic group of the side chain, have been synthesized and assayed as monoamine oxidase-A (MAO-A) [E.C.1.4.3.4] inhibitors. They were effective inhibitors with, in some cases, similar potencies to clorgyline. "In vitro" experiments were performed on rat brain synaptosomes to investigate whether these MAO-A inhibitors had any effect on noradrenaline (NA), dopamine (DA) and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) transport systems in different rat brain regions. The effect of these drugs were compared with those of clorgyline and 1-deprenyl. FA 102, FA 69, FA 70 behaved as inhibitors of 3H-monoamine uptake with similar rank of order of potency for amine uptake inhibition: 5-HT > DA > NA. The IC50 values for FA 102, FA 69, FA 70, respectively, were: 17 microM, 60 microM, 18 microM for 5HT uptake in cortex and 37 microM, 55 microM and 20 microM in hippocampus; 70 microM, 385 microM for NA uptake in cortex and 315 microM, 255 microM and 600 microM in hypothalamus; 270 microM, 160 microM, 40 microM for DA uptake in striatum. 1-Deprenyl was a very poor inhibitor of monoamine uptake, whereas clorgyline behaved similarly to these indolalkylamine derivatives. Comparing these results with the IC50 values of citalopram, nisoxetine and GBR12909, specific and selective inhibitors of 5-HT, NA and DA transport systems respectively, indicated that these indolalkylamine derivatives interact more strongly with the 5HT uptake system.

Akt is essential for insulin modulation of amphetamine-induced human dopamine transporter cell-surface redistribution.

Uptake by the dopamine transporter (DAT) is the primary pathway for the clearance of extracellular dopamine (DA) and consequently for regulating the magnitude and duration of dopaminergic signaling. Amphetamine (AMPH) has been shown to decrease simultaneously DAT cell-surface expression and [(3)H]DA uptake. We have shown that insulin and its subsequent signaling through the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)-dependent pathway oppose this effect of AMPH by promoting increased cell-surface expression. Here, we used human embryonic kidney 293 cells stably expressing the human DAT (hDAT cells) to investigate the downstream cellular components important for this effect of insulin. Akt is a protein kinase effector immediately downstream of PI3K. Both overexpression of a dominant-negative mutant of Akt (K179R) and the addition of 1-(5-chloronaphthalene-1-sulfonyl)-1H-hexahydro-1,4-diazepine HCl (ML9), a pharmacological inhibitor of Akt, decreased cell-surface expression of DAT, suggesting a role of basal Akt signaling in the homoeostasis of DAT. Moreover, expression of a constitutively active Akt mutant reduced the ability of AMPH to decrease hDAT cell-surface expression as well as [(3)H]DA uptake. In contrast, overexpression of K179R blocked the ability of insulin to oppose AMPH-induced reduction of hDAT cell-surface expression and [(3)H]DA uptake, as did ML9. Our data demonstrate that hDAT cell-surface expression is regulated by the insulin signaling pathway and that Akt plays a key role in the hormonal modulation of AMPH-induced hDAT trafficking and in the regulation of basal hDAT cell-surface expression.

FA-70, a novel selective and irreversible monoamine oxidase-A inhibitor: effect on monoamine metabolism in mouse cerebral cortex.

A series of indolealkylamine derivatives has been previously designed and evaluated with the aim of finding the most potent and selective novel monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors to be used in the therapy of neurological and affective disorders. Among them, FA70, a 5-hydroxy-indolealkylamine derivative, has been characterized in vitro as a potent, irreversible, and mechanism-based inhibitor of the MAO-A isoform. The comparison with clorgyline, analyzed under the same experimental conditions, confirmed FA70 as the most potent MAO-A inhibitor. The ex vivo effect of FA70 on MAO activity in mouse cerebral cortex was similar to that observed in vitro, showing more efficacy than in peripheral tissues. The ex vivo effect of FA70 on amine metabolism also was evaluated after acute and chronic treatment, and the results showed that between both MAO isoforms, MAO-A is the only one responsible for monoamine metabolism in this region of the brain. The ex vivo effect of FA70 on dopamine content was correlated with the activation effect on tyrosine hydroxylase activity, the enzyme responsible for the regulation of the limiting step in catecholamine synthesis.

New 2-[(5-methoxy-1-methylindolyl)]-alkylamine derivatives: the effect of branching and elongation of the side chain on MAO inhibition.

A novel series of previously synthesised 2-[(5-methoxy-1-methylindolyl)]alkylamine derivatives were irreversible and time-dependent mechanism-based inhibitors of MAO. The effect of branching and elongation of the side chain was evaluated on the inhibitory potency towards MAO-A and MAO-B activities. The KI of the reversible step and the kinact of the irreversible one were determined in each case. The results obtained lead to the conclusion that neither the elongation nor the branching of the side chain improve the potency of the compounds as MAO inhibitors.