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Biomedical subjects

A M Atkinson

Publications and source records attributed to A M Atkinson.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Predictive blood glucose lowering efficacy by Glucokinase activators in high fat fed female Zucker rats.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Glucokinase (GK) is the rate-limiting enzyme of hepatic glucose metabolism and acts as a sensor for glucose-stimulated insulin release in beta-cells. Here we examine whether the lowering of blood glucose levels in the rat by small molecule glucokinase activators (GKAs) can be predicted from in vitro enzyme potencies and plasma compound exposure. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: We developed an insulin resistant and hyperinsulinemic animal model, the high fat fed female Zucker (fa/fa) rat (HFFZ), and measured the acute in vivo glucose-lowering efficacy of a number of GKAs in an oral glucose tolerance test. KEY RESULTS: Four GKAs (at 1 to 30 mg kg(-1)), with different in vitro enzyme potencies, dose-dependently improved oral glucose tolerance in HFFZ rats (10-40% decrease glucose area under the curve (AUC) from vehicle control). The extent of glucose lowering, or the pharmacodynamic (PD) effect, of a GKA was directly related to the total compound concentration in the plasma; the pharmacokinetic (PK) measurement. This PK-PD relationship was extended across a series of GKAs by accounting for differences in protein binding and in the in vitro potency. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: When the unbound GKA compound level is greater than the in vitro enzyme potency there was significant blood glucose lowering in vivo. This latter relationship was upheld in non-diabetic Wistar rats orally dosed with a GKA. The robust and predictive nature of the PK-PD relationship for GKAs may prove of value in testing these agents in early human clinical studies.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

L-canavanine restores blood pressure in a rat model of endotoxic shock.

Administration of lipopolysaccharide to anaesthetised rats produced a reduction in mean arterial pressure, an increase in heart rate, and death at 4-6 h. Intravenous infusion of NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (50 mg/kg), an inhibitor of constitutive and inducible nitric oxide (NO) synthase, 60 min after challenge with lipopolysaccharide, caused an immediate increase in blood pressure followed by a precipitous fall in pressure, and death. In contrast, intravenous infusion of L-canavanine (100 mg/kg), reported to be a selective inhibitor of inducible NO synthase in vitro, 60 min and 180 min after lipopolysaccharide challenge, produced an increase in mean arterial pressure and reversed the lipopolysaccharide induced hypotension. However, in lipopolysaccharide challenged animals protected from hypotension by administration of L-canavanine (60 min post challenge), intravenous infusion of NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester at 180 min post challenge caused an immediate rise in mean arterial pressure, followed by a rapid fall in blood pressure and heart rate, and sudden death. In contrast, a second dose of L-canavanine at 180 min post challenge maintained blood pressure for the duration of the experiment. These findings indicate that inhibition of both constitutive and inducible NO synthase during endotoxaemia is lethal. However, the use of a selective inhibitor of inducible NO synthase restores mean arterial pressure to baseline, and offers a therapeutic approach to managing hypotension in shock.

Amino Acid Oxidoreductases↗
PubMed1992

Inhibition of nitric oxide synthesis improves survival in a murine peritonitis model of sepsis that is not cured by antibiotics alone.

Inhibition of nitric oxide synthesis was investigated in a murine model of advanced sepsis in which antibiotic therapy alone did not improve survival. Seven hours after receiving a lethal intraperitoneal challenge with live Escherichia coli, mice were given either NG-monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA) intravenously, imipenem-cilastatin subcutaneously or a combination of both. L-NMMA (3-300 mg/kg) or imipenem-cilastatin (10 or 50 mg/kg) given alone did not improve survival; co-administration of L-NMMA and either 10 or 50 mg imipenem-cilastatin/kg improved survival significantly. These findings suggest that nitric oxide contributes to the morbidity associated with advanced sepsis and that nitric oxide synthase inhibition may improve the efficacy of conventional antimicrobial treatment of severe infections.

Amino Acid Oxidoreductases↗