Teneurin C-terminal associated peptide (TCAP)-1 attenuates the development and expression of naloxone-precipitated morphine withdrawal in male Swiss Webster mice.

RATIONALE: Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), the apical stress-inducing hormone, exacerbates stress and addictive behaviors. TCAP-1 is a peptide that directly inhibits both CRF-mediated stress and addiction-related behaviors; however, the direct action of TCAP-1 on morphine withdrawal-associated behaviors has not previously been examined. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether TCAP-1 administration attenuates behavioral and physiological consequences of morphine withdrawal in mice. METHODS: Mice were administered via subcutaneous route TCAP-1 either before or after initial morphine exposure, after which jumping behavior was quantified to assess the effects of TCAP-1 on naloxone-precipitated morphine withdrawal. As a comparison, mice were treated with nonpeptide CRF1 receptor antagonist CP-154,526. In one experiment, plasma corticosterone (CORT) was also measured as a physiological stress indicator. RESULTS: Pretreatment with TCAP-1 (10-250 nmol/kg) before morphine treatment significantly inhibited the development of naloxone-precipitated withdrawal. TCAP-1 (250-500 nmol/kg) treatment administered after morphine treatment attenuated the behavioral expression of naloxone-precipitated withdrawal. TCAP-1 (250 nmol/kg) treatment during morphine treatment was more effective than the optimal dosing of CP-154,526 (20 mg/kg) at suppressing the behavioral expression of naloxone-precipitated withdrawal, despite similar reduction of withdrawal-induced plasma CORT level increases. CONCLUSIONS: These findings establish TCAP-1 as a potential therapeutic candidate for the prevention and treatment of morphine withdrawal.

Structure-based design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of indomethacin derivatives as cyclooxygenase-2 inhibiting nitric oxide donors.

Indomethacin, a nonselective cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibitor, was modified in three distinct regions in an attempt both to increase cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) selectivity and to enhance drug safety by covalent attachment of an organic nitrate moiety as a nitric oxide donor. A human whole-blood COX assay shows the modifications on the 3-acetic acid part of the indomethacin yielding an amide-nitrate derivative 32 and a sulfonamide-nitrate derivative 61 conferred COX-2 selectivity. Along with their respective des-nitrate analogs, for example, 31 and 62, the nitrates 32 and 61 were effective antiinflammatory agents in the rat air-pouch model. After oral dosing, though, only 32 increased nitrate and nitrite levels in rat plasma, indicating that its nitrate tether served as a nitric oxide donor in vivo. In a rat gastric injury model, examples 31 and 32 both show a 98% reduction in gastric lesion score compared to that of indomethacin. In addition, the nitrated derivative 32 inducing 85% fewer gastric lesions when coadministered with aspirin as compared to the combination of aspirin and valdecoxib.

Rat model for evaluation of therapeutics on peripheral vascular resistance.

Described in this protocol is a rat preparation that serves as a sensitive, reliable in vivo assay of peripheral vascular resistance. Experiments are conducted on conscious animals 5 days following the surgical implantation of an arterial pressure catheter in the carotid artery and a transit time flow probe on the abdominal aorta. The transit time flow probe measures volume blood flow per unit time, making it possible to calculate a true vascular resistance, a reliable indicator of microvascular tone. After allowing appropriate recovery time between experiments, it is possible to use the animal preparation multiple times. This increases study efficiency by reducing the number of animals required and makes it possible to use paired statistical analysis since multiple treatment interventions, including control conditions, can be evaluated in each animal.

Selective nitros(yl)ation induced in vivo by a nitric oxide-donating cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor: a NObonomic analysis.

Nitric oxide (NO) enhances anti-inflammatory drug action. Through a metabonomics approach termed "NObonomics," the effects of a prototypic NO donor (organic nitrate)-cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor hybrid (NO-coxib), NMI-1093, on the NO metabolite status of the circulation and major organs have been profiled in vivo in the rat. An oral anti-inflammatory NMI-1093 bolus elicited acute tissue-, time-, and dose-dependent changes in oxidative and nitroso/nitrosyl NO metabolites. Gastric N-nitrosation and hepatic S-nitrosation and heme nitrosylation emerged as sensitive indices of this NO-coxib's metabolism. Acute NMI-1093-induced nitros(yl)ation correlated positively as a function of nitrate plus nitrite formation across all organs examined, suggesting a unifying in vivo mechanism consequent to NMI-1093 biotransformation that links oxidative and nitros(yl)ative routes of NO chemical biology and thereby may support downstream NO signaling. NMI-1093 depressed erythrocyte nitros(yl)ation, likely by inhibiting cellular carbonic anhydrase and shifting the intracellular balance between nitrogen oxides and carbonates. Glutathione-S-transferase or cytochrome P450 inhibitors also attenuated NMI-1093's NO metabolism in a compartment-selective fashion. Although not itself a NO donor, the des-nitro coxib analog of NMI-1093 influenced basal NO metabolite profiles, implicating a cyclooxygenase-NO synthase interaction in physiological NO regulation. By detailing the global NO metrics of a unique coxib bearing a popular NO-donor pharmacophore (i.e., a nitrate moiety) and defining some critical mechanistic determinants, this study demonstrates how NObonomics can serve as valuable tool in helping elucidate NO systems biology and the effect of NO-donor and non-NO-donating therapeutics thereon.