A novel genetically modified mouse seizure model for evaluating anticonvulsive and neuroprotective efficacy of an A1 adenosine receptor agonist following soman intoxication.

Recently a novel humanized mouse strain has been successfully generated, in which serum carboxylesterase (CES) knock out (KO) mice (Es1-/-) were further genetically modified by knocking in (KI), or adding, the gene that encodes the human form of acetylcholinesterase (AChE). The resulting human AChE KI and serum CES KO (or KIKO) mouse strain should not only exhibit organophosphorus nerve agent (NA) intoxication in a manner more similar to humans, but also display AChE-specific treatment responses more closely mimicking those of humans to facilitate data translation to pre-clinic trials. In this study, we utilized the KIKO mouse to develop a seizure model for NA medical countermeasure investigation, and then applied it to evaluate the anticonvulsant and neuroprotectant (A/N) efficacy of a specific A1 adenosine receptor (A1AR) agonist, N-bicyclo-(2.2.1)hept-2-yl-5'-chloro-5'-deoxyadenosine (ENBA), which has been shown in a rat seizure model to be a potent A/N compound. Male mice surgically implanted with cortical electroencephalographic (EEG) electrodes a week earlier were pretreated with HI-6 and challenged with various doses (26 to 47 µg/kg, SC) of soman (GD) to determine a minimum effective dose (MED) that induced sustained status epilepticus (SSE) activity in 100% of animals while causing minimum lethality at 24 h. The GD dose selected was then used to investigate the MED doses of ENBA when given either immediately following SSE initiation (similar to wartime military first aid application) or at 15 min after ongoing SSE seizure activity (applicable to civilian chemical attack emergency triage). The selected GD dose of 33 µg/kg (1.4 x LD50) generated SSE in 100% of KIKO mice and produced only 30% mortality. ENBA at a dose as little as 10 mg/kg, IP, caused isoelectric EEG activity within minutes after administration in naïve un-exposed KIKO mice. The MED doses of ENBA to terminate GD-induced SSE activity were determined to be 10 and 15 mg/kg when treatment was given at the time of SSE onset and when seizure activity was ongoing for 15 min, respectively. These doses were much lower than in the non-genetically modified rat model, which required an ENBA dose of 60 mg/kg to terminate SSE in 100% GD-exposed rats. At MED doses, all mice survived for 24 h, and no neuropathology was observed when the SSE was stopped. The findings confirmed that ENBA is a potent A/N for both immediate and delayed (i.e., dual purposed) therapy to victims of NA exposure and serves as a promising neuroprotective antidotal and adjunctive medical countermeasure candidate for pre-clinical research and development for human application.

Anticonvulsant effectiveness of scopolamine against soman-induced seizures in African green monkeys.

Prolonged seizures are a hallmark feature of intoxication with anticholinesterase nerve agents such as soman. While benzodiazepine drugs are typically used to control these seizures, studies in both rats and guinea pigs have shown that potent, centrally acting anticholinergic drugs such as scopolamine can also terminate such seizures. The present study was performed to determine if scopolamine could produce similar anticonvulsant effects in a nonhuman primate model of soman intoxication. Adult male African green monkeys, implanted with telemetry devices to record cortical electroencephalographic activity, were pretreated with pyridostigmine (0.02 mg/kg, intramuscularly [im]) and 40 min later challenged with 15 µg/kg (im) of the nerve agent soman. One min after soman exposure the animals were treated with atropine (0.4 mg/kg, im) and the oxime 2-PAM (25.7 mg/kg, im). One min after the start of seizure activity the animals were administered scopolamine (0.01-0.1 mg/kg, im), using an up-down dosing design over successive animals. Scopolamine was highly effective in stopping soman-induced seizures with an ED50 = 0.0312 mg/kg (0.021-0.047 mg/kg = 95% confidence limits). Seizure control was rapid, with all epileptiform activity stopping on average 21.7 min after scopolamine treatment. A separate pK study showed that scopolamine absorption peaked approximately 10 min after im administration and a dose of 0.032 mg/kg produced maximum plasma levels of 17.62 ng/ml. The results show that scopolamine exerts potent and rapid anticonvulsant action against soman-induced seizures and that it may serve as a valuable adjunct to current antidote treatments for nerve agent intoxication.

Delayed tezampanel and caramiphen treatment but not midazolam protects against long-term neuropathology after soman exposure.

Prolonged status epilepticus (SE) can cause brain damage; therefore, treatment must be administered promptly after seizure onset to limit SE duration and prevent neuropathology. Timely treatment of SE is not always feasible; this would be particularly true in a mass exposure to an SE-inducing agent such as a nerve agent. Therefore, the availability of anticonvulsant treatments that have neuroprotective efficacy even if administered with a delay after SE onset is an imperative. Here, we compared the long-term neuropathology resulting from acutely exposing 21-day-old male and female rats to the nerve agent soman, and treating them with midazolam (3 mg/kg) or co-administration of tezampanel (10 mg/kg) and caramiphen (50 mg/kg), at 1 h postexposure (~50 min after SE onset). Midazolam-treated rats had significant neuronal degeneration in limbic structures, mainly at one month postexposure, followed by neuronal loss in the basolateral amygdala and the CA1 hippocampal area. Neuronal loss resulted in significant amygdala and hippocampal atrophy, deteriorating from one to six months postexposure. Rats treated with tezampanel-caramiphen had no evidence of neuropathology, except for neuronal loss in the basolateral amygdala at the six-month timepoint. Anxiety was increased only in the midazolam-treated rats, at one, three, and six months postexposure. Spontaneous recurrent seizures appeared only in midazolam-treated rats, at three and six months postexposure in males and only at six months in females. These findings suggest that delayed treatment of nerve agent-induced SE with midazolam may result in long-lasting or permanent brain damage, while antiglutamatergic anticonvulsant treatment consisting of tezampanel and caramiphen may provide full neuroprotection.

Residual behavioral incapacitation after therapy of soman intoxication: the effect of a soman simulator.

When rats are intoxicated with high doses of the cholinesterase inhibitor soman (5-8 X LD50), the compound is temporarily stored in a "depot" from which it is gradually released. Thus, despite an initially successful therapy with the oxime HI-6 and atropine, the released soman re-intoxicates the organism and death may ensue in several hours. Soman simulators, i.e., non-toxic structural analogues of soman, have been synthesized which are capable of preventing death in soman poisoned rats by modifying the accumulation and release of soman from its depot. Earlier experiments have demonstrated that prophylaxis with the simulator pinacolyl dimethyl phosphinate (PDP) combined with HI-6 and atropine is capable of preventing death in animals heavily poisoned with soman. Moreover, gross observation of successfully treated animals suggested that they were in fairly good condition with respect to general health and neurological functioning. Since the degree of behavioral impairment remaining after soman intoxication and subsequent treatment may be a crucial factor for survival under difficult circumstances, quantitative behavioral experiments were carried out to substantiate these observational findings. Using a recently developed, tv/microprocessor-based system for the measurement of coordinated hindlimb movement in the rat, the residual behavioral effects of successful soman therapy were evaluated. Performance of animals treated with atropine sulphate (25 mg/kg, IP), soman (5 X LD50, IV), HI-6 (56 mg/kg, IV) and the soman simulator PDP was compared to that of animals similarly treated but without additional PDP treatment and to that of saline controls in a series of experiments, varying dose and time of injection of PDP.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

High doses of soman protect against organophosphorus-induced delayed polyneuropathy but tabun does not.

Organophosphorus-induced delayed polyneuropathy (OPIDP) is thought to result from organophosphorylation of neuropathy target esterase (NTE; formerly known as neurotoxic esterase), followed by an "aging" of the phosphorylated NTE. Protection against OPIDP should thus be achieved by production of an inhibited but "nonaging" NTE. Inhibited NTE produced in vitro by interaction with any of the four resolved isomers of soman aged negligibly (M. K. Johnson, D. J. Read, and H. P. Benschop, 1985a, Biochem. Pharmacol., 34, 1945-1951). Therefore both unresolved soman and the most inhibitory isomer (C(-)P(+)) were tested in adult hens for effects on NTE and for ability to produce OPIDP. With improved prophylaxis and therapy of acute intoxication, birds survived greater than 100 X LD50 of unresolved soman and did not develop OPIDP. One day after dosing, about half of brain and spinal cord NTE was in an unmodified (unaged) inhibited form; at this time eight survivors were challenged with a neuropathic dose of diisopropyl phosphorofluoridate (DFP). No neuropathy developed in four out of eight birds and mild to moderate signs were seen in the other four. Nine challenge control birds receiving DFP after solvent all developed severe neuropathy. Partial protection was seen in three out of three birds dosed prior to DFP challenge with sufficient C(-)P(+) isomer of soman (1.2 mg/kg sc) to convert about half of the spinal cord NTE to unaged inhibited form. Protection was not related to cholinergic shock. Two birds which survived out of eight pretreated with tabun (12 mg/kg sc) had about as much NTE inhibited as after soman administration but it was all in the modified (aged) inhibited form; these birds were not protected against DFP-induced neuropathy. A limited histopathologic examination showed that typical neurodegenerative lesions were seen only in birds with clear clinical neuropathy.

Postinoculation PMPA treatment, but not preinoculation immunomodulatory therapy, protects against development of acute disease induced by the unique simian immunodeficiency virus SIVsmmPBj.

The fatal disease induced by SIVsmmPBj4 clinically resembles endotoxic shock, with the development of severe gastrointestinal disease. While the exact mechanism of disease induction has not been fully elucidated, aspects of virus biology suggest that immune activation contributes to pathogenesis. These biological characteristics include induction of peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) proliferation, upregulation of activation markers and Fas ligand expression, and increased levels of apoptosis. To investigate the role of immune activation and viral replication on disease induction, animals infected with SIVsmmPBj14 were treated with one of two drugs: FK-506, a potent immunosuppressive agent, or PMPA, a potent antiretroviral agent. While PBMC proliferation was blocked in vitro with FK-506, pig-tailed macaques treated preinoculation with FK-506 were not protected from acutely lethal disease. However, these animals did show some evidence of modulation of immune activation, including reduced levels of CD25 antigen and FasL expression, as well as lower tissue viral loads. In contrast, macaques treated postinoculation with PMPA were completely protected from the development of acutely lethal disease. Treatment with PMPA beginning as late as 5 days postinfection was able to prevent the PBj syndrome. Plasma and cellular viral loads in PMPA-treated animals were significantly lower than those in untreated controls. Although PMPA-treated animals showed acute lymphopenia due to SIVsmmPBj14 infection, cell subset levels subsequently recovered and returned to normal. Based upon subsequent CD4(+) cell counts, the results suggest that very early treatment following retroviral infection can have a significant effect on modifying the subsequent course of disease. These results also suggest that viral replication is an important factor involved in PBJ-induced disease. These studies reinforce the idea that the SIVsmmPBj model system is useful for therapy and vaccine testing.