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Biomedical subjects

A Trouet

Publications and source records attributed to A Trouet.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Activity of ketoconazole derivatives against Leishmania mexicana amazonensis within mouse peritoneal macrophages.

Imidazoles such as ketoconazole have proven antileishmanial activity, both in vitro and in vivo. New derivatives of ketoconazole have been synthesized in order to improve the therapeutic index and antileishmanial activity as assessed by mouse peritoneal macrophages infected with Leishmania mexicana amazonesis. Amino-acid derivatives of ketoconazole are at least 10 times more effective than ketoconazole in vitro, and the best effect is observed using the phenylalanyl-ketoconazole. Fatty acid derivatives, such as oleoyl-ketoconazole, also possess a greater therapeutic activity but to a lesser extent than amino-acid derivatives. Moreover, oleoyl-ketoconazole showed a remarkable property in terms of effective dose. Our results demonstrate the potential antileishmanial efficacy of some ketoconazole derivatives, and suggest that phenylalanyl-ketoconazole should be considered for experimental evaluation in animal models.

Animals

Acetylated low-density lipoprotein as a vehicle for antiinfectious drugs: preparation and antileishmanial activity of Ac-LDL containing ketoconazole-oleate.

Previous studies have demonstrated that mouse peritoneal macrophages take up low-density lipoproteins (LDL) which have been chemically modified by the acetylation of lysine residues (Ac-LDL). This uptake is mediated through a specific receptor known as the scavenger receptor. Ac-LDL therefore appear to have excellent potential for antiinfectious drug targeting. We have developed a new method to incorporate ketoconazole-oleate, a lipophilic derivative of ketoconazole, into Ac-LDL. The method involves solubilization of LDL in the presence of Na deoxycholate, the addition of a micellar solution of the drug to be incorporated, and the subsequent removal of the detergent leading to the formation of reconstituted LDL (referred to as LDL-KOL). The LDL-KOL contain 200 drug molecules per LDL particle and compete for the binding of native 125I-LDL on human skin fibroblast monolayers. Furthermore, reconstituted LDL-KOL are indistinguishable from native LDL with regard to lipid composition and electrophoretic mobility. LDL-KOL, when acetylated, are recognized by the scavenger receptor. Acetylated LDL-KOL show antileishmanial activity when tested on infected macrophages. The activity appears to be mediated through the scavenger-cell pathway, as LDL-KOL are inactive under the same conditions. Moreover, acetylated LDL-KOL are selectively accumulated within infected macrophages rather than in normal cells. This may be of value in the treatment of intracellular infections.

Animals

Cytotoxic activity of daunorubicin or vindesin conjugated to a monoclonal antibody on cultured MCF-7 breast carcinoma cells.

Conjugates were constructed between daunorubicin or vindesin and a monoclonal antibody to human milk fat globule membrane associated antigen. This antibody recognizes a high molecular weight glycoprotein present at the cell surface of human normal and tumour epithelial cells; after specific binding to plasma membrane of cultured MCF-7 human breast carcinoma cells, it is endocytosed and gains access to lysosomes, wherein it is broken down (Aboud-Pirak et al., Cancer Res 48: 3188-3196, 1988). Covalent linkage of daunorubicin (through a succinylated tetrapeptide arm) or of vindesin (through a hemisuccinate arm) yields conjugates with maximal molar ratios (drug molecule/specific IgG under monomeric form, i.e. unaggregated) or 2.0 and 4.5 respectively. The conjugate with daunorubicin inhibits the binding of the 3H labelled antibody to MCF-7 cells as efficiently as the native unconjugated antibody, whereas the conjugate with vindesin inhibits it only by 56%. Both conjugates are entirely stable in plasma and serum; after 24 hr incubation at pH 4.8 in the presence of rat liver lysosomal enzymes, 60 and 33% of daunorubicin and vindesin respectively are released from the conjugates. Adherent non-confluent cultures of cells recognized (MCF-7) or not (Hep-G2, human hepatocarcinoma cells) by the antibody were incubated from 1 hr to 6 days with different concentrations of daunorubicin or vindesin, free or conjugated to the specific or to a control monoclonal antibody. LD50, defined as the drug concentration required to reach 50% of the amount of cell associated protein obtained in the absence of drug were determined at the end of 6 days continuous incubation or after shorter incubation followed by reincubation in drug free medium up to 6 days. Both cell lines are almost equally susceptible to the free drugs. The conjugate between daunorubicin and the antibody appears inactive, even at saturating concentrations of antibody. This could result from the extrusion out of the cells of daunorubicin molecules released from the conjugate, impairing the drug to reach the intracellular concentration required for cytotoxicity. In contrast, conjugation of vindesin to the specific but not to a control antibody restricts the activity of the drug to cells selectively recognized by the specific antibody. However, even after corrections for the loss of immunoreactivity and for the incomplete release of vindesin from the conjugate, cytotoxicity is achieved at higher concentrations or requires longer exposure to the conjugated than to the free drug.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Antibodies, Monoclonal

Alkylating activity in serum, urine, and CSF following high-dose ifosfamide in children.

The pharmacokinetics of alkylating activity were studied in 17 children treated i.v. with ifosfamide (IF) at 3 g/m2 as a 1-h infusion for 2 consecutive days every 3 weeks, with mesna as a uroprotector. Two patients were treated for a newly diagnosed rhabdomyosarcoma according to the current SIOP (International Society of Pediatric Oncology) protocol. The other 15 patients were treated in a phase II study and presented with one of the following malignancies in relapse: neuroblastoma (7), osteosarcoma (3), soft tissue sarcoma (2), Wilms' tumor (1), non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (1), and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (1). Plasma alkylating activity levels determined by using 4(4'-nitro-benzyl)-pyridine showed considerable inter-individual and intercyclic variations and decreased biphasically, with mean alpha and beta half-lives of 60 min and 6-7 h, respectively. Probably as a result of liver mixed-function oxidase induction, on the 2nd day of treatment the terminal half-lives were shorter, the plasma exposures were lower, and the mean plasma clearances were higher. Renal excretion was almost complete after 24 h, accounting for a mean of 19% of the injected dose. The CSF alkylating activity levels, obtained in four children, were always lower than the plasma levels and ranged from 8 to 51 micrograms/ml, with a mean CSF/plasma ratio of 0.53 +/- 0.23 during the first 12 h. We conclude that IF alkylating activity was biphasically cleared from the plasma, with significant interindividual and intercyclic variability, that the renal contribution to the clearance was low, and that high levels of CSF alkylating activity could possibly contribute to the CNS toxic side effects observed in pediatric patients treated with high-dose IF/mesna.

Adolescent

Antibiotic susceptibility of Salmonella spp. at different pH values.

We have examined the effects of acidic pH, in the range of those prevailing within phagosomes and lysosomes, on the growth and the susceptibility to different antibiotics of several strains of Salmonella spp. The minimal inhibitory concentration and the minimal bactericidal concentration of several beta-lactams were increased considerably during culture at pH 5.2. The extent of the increase was a function of: (1) the beta-lactam structure and, more particularly, the hydrophobicity of the side-chain of the molecule; and (2) the bacterial serotype. This phenotypic resistance at acid pH was not due to beta-lactamase activity or to a lower growth rate. In contrast, rifamycin SV was more active at acidic pH than at neutral pH and chloramphenicol, another highly hydrophobic drug, was equally efficacious at both pH values. Membrane lipopolysaccharide mutants, but not porin mutants, cultivated at an acidic pH were inhibited by lower concentrations of the beta-lactams. This suggests that the increased resistance to beta-lactams, and the increased susceptibility to rifamycin SV, at acidic pH, could have resulted from modified permeability of the outer membrane to antibiotics.

Anti-Bacterial Agents

Thrombus imaging with an I-123-labeled F(ab')2 fragment of an anti-human fibrin monoclonal antibody in a rabbit model.

The murine monoclonal antibody MA-15C5 binds to cross-linked fibrin but not to fibrinogen. Fab or F(ab')2 fragments of MA-15C5, labeled with iodine-123, were injected intravenously into nine rabbits with a nonocclusive 0.2-mL human plasma clot in the jugular vein and into eight control rabbits. Scintigrams obtained at hourly intervals after injection of the F(ab')2 fragment revealed a significantly higher accumulation of tracer in the clot region than in the contralateral region. The relative excess of tracer in the jugular vein region was significantly greater in the study animals than in the control animals throughout the study period. Blind reading of serial scans revealed no visible tracer accumulation in seven of eight control rabbits, whereas the scans of seven of nine study rabbits showed clearly visible accumulation (sensitivity = 77%, specificity = 87%). The Fab fragment of MA-15C5 had a lower affinity and bound less avidly to the blood clot in vivo. These results suggest that the F(ab')2 fragment has better imaging properties than the Fab fragment and that it may be useful for imaging blood clots in man.

Animals

Binding and endocytosis of a monoclonal antibody to a high molecular weight human milk fat globule membrane-associated antigen by cultured MCF-7 breast carcinoma cells.

The aim of this study was to analyze whether a monoclonal antibody to human milk fat globule membrane-associated antigens, recognized specifically and homogeneously by human breast carcinoma cells but also by normal epithelial cells active in secretion, could be used to restrict the access of antitumoral drugs to cells exposing the epitope. The drug-antibody conjugate to be used is constructed by means of a covalent peptidic linkage stable in extracellular medium but hydrolyzed by lysomal enzymes after endocytosis of the drug-carrier conjugate. This monoclonal antibody specifically immunoprecipitates radioactive material from MCF-7 cells biosynthetically radiolabeled with galactose, glucosamine, palmitic acid, or acetic acid but not with mannose, leucine, or methionine. Upon polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate and dithiothreitol, the label migrates as two bands with apparent molecular weights of about 350,000 and 400,000. These bands disappear, or their molecular weight is affected, after treatment of the cells with cycloheximide or of cell lysates with trypsin, Pronase, or neuraminidase but not treatment of the immunoprecipitate with endoglycosidase F. This suggests that these antigens are glycoproteins with O-linked oligosaccharides containing sialic acid in the epitope. By analogy, they should be similar, if not identical, to those recognized by the monoclonal antibodies designated HMFG1 (H. Burchell, H. Durbin, and J. Taylor-Papadimitriou, J. Immunol., 131:508-513, 1983) and DF3 (H. Sekine, T. Ohno, and D.W. Kufe, J. Immunol., 135:3610-3615, 1985). Binding at 4 degrees C of the 3H-labeled antibody by MCF-7 cells indicates the specific attachment of about 1.2 X 10(6) IgG molecules per cells with a Kd of about 14 nM. At 37 degrees C, cells take up the 3H-labeled antibody in amounts much higher than the binding capacity. In addition to cell-associated material, labeled digestion products are released into the culture medium. Cell fractionation by differential centrifugation and isopycnic equilibration on sucrose gradient indicates that the bulk of cell-associated antibody is distributed like the marker enzyme of lysosomes. Although the total uptake of the antibody by the cells is unaffected by either 50 microM chloroquine or 3 micrograms/ml cycloheximide, the release of digestion products is completely inhibited by chloroquine. Antigen-antibody dissociation is pH dependent, since, respectively, 50 and 84% of membrane-bound antibody are released during washing at pH 4.6 and 4.1.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Animals

Uptake, subcellular distribution and biotransformation of 3H-labelled astemizole in cultured rat hepatocytes.

When incubated with 3H-astemizole, a potent antagonist of H1 receptor, cultured rat hepatocytes, which do not express specific receptors for this ligand, avidly take up 3H-label proportionally to the drug concentration. HPLC analysis indicates that at 10 ng 3H-astemizole/ml, cells almost entirely deplete the culture medium of the drug within 4 hr of incubation. At 37 degrees, astemizole is metabolized and released into the culture medium mainly under the form of glucuronoconjugated metabolites. Differential centrifugation of homogenates from hepatocytes incubated with 3H-astemizole indicates that astemizole and unconjugated metabolites are found in the particulate fraction, whereas astemizole and conjugated metabolites are present in the cytosol. Isopycnic centrifugation on sucrose gradient shows that the major part of the 3H-label in the particulate fraction distributes like phospholipids and NADPH cytochrome c reductase, suggesting an association with membranes and, in particular, with the endoplasmic reticulum. Chloroquine, a drug accumulating within lysosomes and acidic endosomes, decreases the uptake of 3H-astemizole by hepatocytes and induces, during isopycnic centrifugation of a particulate fraction, a shift of the 3H-label towards lower densities where it closely accompanies cathepsin B. This suggests that a minor part of astemizole accumulated in the hepatocytes could be trapped within lysosomes. These results could support the hypothesis that aspecific binding of astemizole to cellular membranes and, to a lesser extent, trapping in lysosomes could play a role in the pharmacokinetics of the drug.

Animals

GABA induces down-regulation of the benzodiazepine-GABA receptor complex in the rat cultured neurons.

Cultured neurons from embryonic rat brain display central type benzodiazepine receptors characterized by high-affinity binding of [3H]flunitrazepam which is allosterically enhanced in the presence of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). A 48 h treatment of the cultured neurons with 1 microM diazepam, 0.1 microM clonazepam or 0.1 microM beta-carboline ester derivatives did not change either Bmax or KD values of the [3H]flunitrazepam specific binding. A 48 h incubation in the presence of GABA (1 mM) or muscimol (0.1 mM) induced a 30% decrease of the Bmax value of [3H]flunitrazepam specific binding without change of the KD value. The down-regulation was dependent on GABA concentrations and temperature, and was partially inhibited by bicuculline but not by the benzodiazepine antagonist Ro 15-1788. The other subunits of the benzodiazepine-GABA-chloride channel receptor complex also seemed to be down-regulated by GABA since there was a decrease of the specific binding of [3H]muscimol and [35S]t-butylbicyclophosphorothionate (TBPS) to the GABAA and chloride channel sites respectively. The GABA-induced down-regulation of the GABA-benzodiazepine receptor seems to be selective since the specific binding of ligands to other receptors was not affected. Our results suggests that activation of the low-affinity GABA subunit which is involved in cellular electrophysiological responses, induced the receptor down-regulation.

Animals

[Targeting of anthracyclines and hepatomas].

DNR can be targeted to the liver by linking to galactosylated human serum albumin (AG). The linkage is stable in the blood stream and allows the release of active DNR after endocytosis of the conjugate by the target cells. Receptors for AG are present at the cell membrane of hepatocytes, primary human hepatoma cells and lung metastases. After i.v. administration of AG-DNR more than 70% of the drug is taken up by the liver and in rats 50% of DNR is eliminated in the bile after 16 h. Nude mice bearing human hepatoblastoma cells implanted s.c. were treated twice a week with a dose equivalent to 6.6 mg/kg of DNR either for the free drug or the conjugate AG-DNR. After 7 injections, tumor growth is inhibited in both case, however, the conjugate seems more active and is at least twice less toxic in terms of LD50. A phase I clinical trial of AG-DNR on 11 patients bearing hepatocarcinoma revealed that despite a transitory hyperthermia (37-38 degrees C) during the first day of the 4 day-perfusion, and modifications of hepatic enzymes in 3 cirrhotic patients, no hematologic and cardiac toxicity could be detected. A subjective response has been obtained in half of the patients with a decrease of plasmatic alpha-foetoprotein levels by more than 50% in 4 patients and one complete remission of more than 23 months with disparition of pulmonary metastases.

Adult

Subcellular localization of transferrin protein and iron in the perfused rat liver. Effect of Triton WR 1339, digitonin and temperature.

The subcellular localization of 3H-labelled 59Fe-loaded transferrin accumulated by the liver has been studied by means of cell fractionation techniques. More than 96% of the 59Fe present in the liver of rats perfused with 59Fe-labelled transferrin is recovered in the parenchymal cells. Rat livers were perfused with 10 micrograms/ml 3H-labelled 59Fe-saturated transferrin, homogenized separated in nuclear (N), mitochondrial (M), light mitochondrial (L), microsomal (P) and supernatant (S) fractions; M, L and P fractions were further analysed by isopycnic centrifugation in sucrose gradients. 3H label distributes essentially around densities of 1.13-1.14 g/ml overlapping to a large extent with the distribution of galactosyltransferase, the marker enzyme of the Golgi complex. However, after treatment with low concentrations of digitonin the 3H label dissociates from galactosyltransferase and is shifted to higher densities, suggesting an association of transferrin with cholesterol-rich endocytic vesicles which could derive from the plasma membrane. 59Fe is mostly found in the supernatant fraction largely in the form of ferritin, as indicated by its reaction with antiferritin antibodies. In the mitochondrial fraction the density distribution of 59Fe suggests an association with lysosomes and/or mitochondria. In contrast to the lysosomal enzyme cathepsin B, the density distribution of 59Fe was only slightly affected by pretreatment of the rats with Triton WR 1339, suggesting its association with the mitochondria. At 15 degrees C, 59Fe and 3H labels are recovered together in low-density endocytic vesicles. On the basis of our results we suggest that, at low extracellular transferrin concentration, iron uptake by the liver involves endocytosis of the transferrin protein. The complex is interiorized in low-density acidic vesicles where iron is released. The iron passes into the cytosol, where it is incorporated into ferritin and into the mitochondria. The iron-depleted transferrin molecule would then be returned to the extracellular medium during the recycling of the plasma membrane.

Animals

A phase I study of vinblastine tryptophan ester.

Vinblastine tryptophan ester (VTrpE) is a new vinca alkaloid derivative that achieves antitumor activity in a large variety of animal models. In this phase I study the drug was given as an i.v. injection over 5 min, once a week or once every 2 weeks. Twenty patients with advanced cancer were entered in this trial. The doses ranged from 2.5 mg/m2 to 35 mg/m2. Myelosuppression is the dose-limiting toxicity, with the risk of leukopenia being more serious than that of thrombocytopenia, but the myelosuppression is always reversible. Neurotoxicity, well documented when other vinca alkaloid derivatives are used, is insignificant. Two cases of disease stabilization have been observed in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. For VTrpE, a dose schedule of 30 mg/m2 per week may be recommended for phase II studies in non-small cell lung cancer.

Adult

Different subcellular localization of muscarinic and serotonin (S2) receptors in human, dog, and rat brain.

Cortex from rat, dog, and human brain was submitted to subcellular fractionation using an analytical approach consisting of a two-step procedure. First, fractions were obtained by differential centrifugation and were analyzed for their content of serotonin S2 and muscarinic receptors, serotonin uptake, and marker enzymes. Second, the cytoplasmic extracts were subfractionated by equilibration in sucrose density gradient. In human brain, serotonin and muscarinic receptors were found associated mostly with mitochondrial fractions which contain synaptosomes, whereas in rat brain they were concentrated mainly in the microsomal fractions. Density gradient centrifugation confirmed a more marked synaptosomal localization of receptors in human than in rat brain, the dog displaying an intermediate profile. In human brain, indeed, more receptor sites were found to be associated with the second peak characterized in electron microscopy by the largest number of nerve terminals. In addition, synaptosomes from human brain are denser than those from rat brain and some marker enzymes reveal different subcellular distribution in the three species. These data indicate that more receptors are of synaptosomal nature in human brain than in other species and this finding is compatible with a larger amount of synaptic contacts in human brain.

Adult

Cellular pharmacology of deferrioxamine B and derivatives in cultured rat hepatocytes in relation to iron mobilization.

Two radiolabelled derivatives of deferrioxamine B (DF) have been synthesized: methyl-DF and acetyl-DF. Both derivatives are non cytotoxic and stable in cell culture but they are degraded in human plasma and more extensively in rat plasma. Methyl-DF, acetyl-DF and DF mobilize radioiron to the same extent from hepatocytes loaded with 59Fe citrate in the same range of extracellular concentrations. The uptake and release of the 3H-labelled derivatives and their corresponding iron complexes have been measured and appear to represent a passive phenomenon resulting from the gradient of concentration between the cellular compartment and the extracellular medium. The results indicate that only a limited pool of cellular iron is accessible for chelation and that neither the permeability of the cellular membrane, nor the intracellular concentration of the chelators are the limiting factors for iron mobilization. On the basis of the subcellular distribution of the 3H-DF analogues, methylamine inhibition of iron chelation by siderophores in cell cultures and the positive effect of acidic pH and hydrolysis by lysosomal enzymes on in vitro iron mobilization from radiolabelled ferritin, we suggest that iron mobilization by DF and its derivatives occurs in lysosomes where they complex iron released from ferritin under the conjugate actions of acidic pH and lysosomal enzymes.

Animals

High dose melphalan in children with advanced malignant disease. A pharmacokinetic study.

Nine children with poor-prognosis malignancies--seven with advanced neuroblastoma and two with metastatic Ewing's sarcoma--were given high doses of melphalan (HDM), 150 mg/m2 (3 patients) and 180 mg/m2 (6 patients), as a 'late intensification' agent combined with noncryopreserved autologous bone marrow transplants. Melphalan levels in the plasma decreased biphasically, with mean half-lives of 6.6 min and 3.0 h. At the time of marrow reinfusion (12-21 h after HDM) the melphalan plasma level was generally below 0.1 microgram/ml. The renal contribution to melphalan clearance was low, a mean of 5.8% of the injected dose being found in patients' urine over the 12 h following HDM administration. No significant difference was seen in pharmacokinetic parameters between patients undergoing and not undergoing forced diuresis.

Child

Vinblastin-23-oyl amino acid derivatives: chemistry, physicochemical data, toxicity, and antitumor activities against P388 and L1210 leukemias.

The dimeric alkaloids vinblastine (VLB) and vincristine (VCR) differ structurally only in the functional group on the dihydroindole nitrogen. The semisynthetic derivative vindesine (VDS) differs slightly from VLB by having an amide group instead of an ester group. However, these minor distinctions are responsible for profound differences in the oncolytic spectrum, potency, and toxicity of these compounds. Vinblastin-23-oyl amino acid derivatives were synthesized by linking amino acid carboxylic esters to the vinblastin-23-oyl moiety through an amide linkage. Studies were extended to explore the influence of the nature of the amino acid, the ester alkyl chain lengths, the stereoisomerism of the amino acid, or the reacetylation of the hydroxyl group (position O-4) of the vindoline moiety. The present study deals with the synthesis of 21 vinblastin-23-oyl amino acid derivatives, some of their physicochemical data, the acute toxicity in mice, and therapeutic activities of these derivatives against the P388 and L1210 leukemias in comparison with VDS, VBL, and VCR.

Animals

Effects of antimycin, glucose deprivation, and serum on cultures of neurons, astrocytes, and neuroblastoma cells.

The resistance of cultured mouse neuroblastoma cells, primary cultures of rat cerebellar neurons, and rat brain astrocytes to a block of aerobic metabolism was studied. Parameters such as lactate production and ATP content were measured in the presence of antimycin A and under various conditions of glucose, oxygen, and serum supply. The following conclusions can be drawn: (1) All cell types studied were characterized by an active production of lactate; (2) Incubation of the various cell types in the absence of glucose at normal oxygen tension did not affect ATP levels; (3) Respiration blocked by antimycin led to a Pasteur effect; (4) Neuroblastoma cells, but not the other cell types, were fully resistant to inhibition of respiration provided that sufficient glucose was supplied; (5) In the absence of glucose no stores of energy or utilizable substrate were present in the cell types studied when respiration was blocked; (6) In the presence of fetal calf serum anoxic neurons showed irreversible signs of degeneration.

Adenosine Triphosphate