Determination of a novel carbamate AChE inhibitor meserine in mouse plasma, brain and rat plasma by LC-MS/MS: application to pharmacokinetic study after intravenous and subcutaneous administration.

In this paper a simple and sensitive method for determination of a novel phenylcarbamate AChE inhibitor, meserine, in mouse plasma, brain and rat plasma was evaluated using high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Separation was achieved on an Alltech Alltima-C18 column (150mm×2.1mm, 3µm, Deerfield, IL, USA) with isocratic elution at a flow rate of 0.35ml/min. Detection was performed under the multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode using an electrospray ionization (ESI) in the positive ion mode. The protein precipitation and liquid-liquid extraction methods were used for the pretreatment of plasma and brain homogenates, respectively. The calibration curves of meserine showed good linearity over the concentration range of 0.5-1000ng/ml for mouse and rat plasma and 0.5-500ng/ml for mouse brain. The intra- and inter-day precision were less than 9.34% and the accuracy was from 95.34% to 107.78% for QC samples. The validated method was successfully applied to a preclinical pharmacokinetic study of meserine in mice and rats after intravenous and subcutaneous administration. The results showed that this novel drug could easily cross the blood-brain barrier to reach the site of drug action. Meserine was rapidly absorbed with a high subcutaneous absolute bioavailability (>90%).

Meserine, a novel carbamate AChE inhibitor, ameliorates scopolamine-induced dementia and alleviates amyloidogenesis of APP/PS1 transgenic mice.

AIMS: To investigate whether Meserine, a novel phenylcarbamate derivative of (-)-meptazinol, possesses beneficial activities against cholinergic deficiency and amyloidogenesis, the two major pathological characteristics of Alzheimer's disease (AD). METHODS: Ellman's assay and Morris water maze were used to detect acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity and evaluate spatial learning and memory ability, respectively. Both high content screening and Western blotting were carried out to detect ß-amyloid precursor protein (APP), while RT-PCR and ELISA were conducted to detect APP-mRNA and ß-amyloid peptide (Aß). RESULTS: In scopolamine-induced dementia mice, Meserine (1 mg/kg, i.p.) significantly ameliorated spatial learning and memory deficits, which was consistent with its in vitro inhibitory ability against AChE (recombinant human AChE, IC50 = 274 ± 49 nM). Furthermore, Meserine (7.5 mg/kg) injected intraperitoneally once daily for 3 weeks lowered APP level by 28% and Aß42 level by 42% in APP/PS1 transgenic mouse cerebrum. This APP modulation action might be posttranscriptional, as Meserine reduced APP by about 30% in SH-SY5Y-APP695 cells but did not alter APP-mRNA level. And both APP and Aß42 lowering action of Meserine maintained longer than that of rivastigmine. CONCLUSION: Meserine executes dual actions against cholinergic deficiency and amyloidogenesis and provides a promising lead compound for symptomatic and modifying therapy of AD.