Diabetes-induced Neuropathic Mechanical Hyperalgesia Depends on P2X4 Receptor Activation in Dorsal Root Ganglia.

Peripheral diabetic neuropathy (PDN) manifests in 50-60% of type I and II diabetic patients and is the major cause of limb amputation. Adequate therapy for PDN is a current challenge. There are evidences that the activation of the P2X4 receptor (P2X4R) expressed on microglial cells of the central nervous system takes part in the development of neuropathic pain. However, there is an open question: Is P2X4R activation on dorsal root ganglia (DRG) involved in the development of neuropathic pain? To answer this question, this study verified the involvement of P2X4R expressed in DRG cells on diabetes-induced neuropathic mechanical hyperalgesia in rats. We found that intrathecal or ganglionar (L5-DRG) administration of a novel P2X4R antagonist (PSB-15417) or intrathecal administration of oligodeoxynucleotides (ODN)-antisense against the P2X4R reversed diabetes-induced neuropathic mechanical hyperalgesia. The DRG of the diabetic neuropathic rats showed an increase in P2X4R expression, and the DRG immunofluorescence suggested that P2X4R is expressed mainly in satellite glial cells (SGC). Finally, our study showed a functional expression of P2X4R in SGCs of the rat's DRG, because the P2X4R agonist BzATP elicits an increase in intracellular calcium concentration in SGCs, which was reduced by PSB-15417. These findings indicate that P2X4R activation in DRG is essential to diabetes-induced neuropathic mechanical hyperalgesia. Therefore, this purinergic receptor in DRG could be an interesting therapeutic target for quaternary P2X4R antagonists that do not cross the hematoencephalic barrier, for the control of neuropathic pain, preserving central nervous system functions.

3-(2-Carboxyethyl)indole-2-carboxylic Acid Derivatives: Structural Requirements and Properties of Potent Agonists of the Orphan G Protein-Coupled Receptor GPR17.

The orphan receptor GPR17 may be a novel drug target for inflammatory diseases. 3-(2-Carboxyethyl)-4,6-dichloro-1 H-indole-2-carboxylic acid (MDL29,951, 1) was previously identified as a moderately potent GPR17 agonist. In the present study, we investigated the structure-activity relationships (SARs) of 1. Substitution of the indole 1-, 5-, or 7-position was detrimental. Only small substituents were tolerated in the 4-position while the 6-position accommodated large lipophilic residues. Among the most potent compounds were 3-(2-carboxyethyl)-1 H-indole-2-carboxylic acid derivatives containing the following substituents: 6-phenoxy (26, PSB-1737, EC50 270 nM), 4-fluoro-6-bromo (33, PSB-18422, EC50 27.9 nM), 4-fluoro-6-iodo (35, PSB-18484, EC50 32.1 nM), and 4-chloro-6-hexyloxy (43, PSB-1767, EC50 67.0 nM). (3-(2-Carboxyethyl)-6-hexyloxy-1 H-indole-2-carboxylic acid (39, PSB-17183, EC50 115 nM) behaved as a partial agonist. Selected potent compounds tested at human P2Y receptor subtypes showed high selectivity for GPR17. Docking into a homology model of the human GPR17 and molecular dynamic simulation studies rationalized the observed SARs.