Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to F Vocci.
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This article is an exploration of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Technical Review on the role of glutamatergic systems in the development of opiate addiction. The effects of "glutamate antagonist" medications on opioid tolerance and withdrawal are examined. In rodents, mu opioid tolerance can be inhibited by noncompetitive N-methyl D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists [MK801, dextromethorphan (DM), ketamine, phencyclidine (PCP)], competitive NMDA receptor antagonists (LY274614, NPC17742, LY235959), partial glycine agonists (ACPC), glycine antagonists (ACEA-1328), and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitors [L-NNA, L-NMMA, methylene blue (MB)]. Similarly, some of the symptoms of opioid withdrawal observed in opioid-dependent rodents also can be inhibited by noncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonists (MK801, DM, ketamine), competitive NMDA receptor antagonists (LY274614), glycine antagonists (felbamate), and NOS inhibitors (L-NNA, L-NMMA, L-NAME, L-NIO, 7-NI, MB). There are some serious toxicological effects associated with the administration of some of the noncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonists in rodent but not in squirrel monkey brain, and some medications induce PCP-like behavioral effects. The medications with the most immediate clinical appeal are those that could be coadministered with methadone to decrease mu opioid tolerance and dependence; they include DM, MB, 7-NI, ACPC, and ACEA-1328.
Drug abuse is of great public concern, and effective treatment strategies for opiate and cocaine dependence are urgently needed for the general addict population as well as for pregnant women and their infants. NIDA's effort to develop new pharmacotherapies as an adjunct to the treatment of opiate addiction has already led to the approval of LAAM and an NDA development program for buprenorphine. The momentum achieved by the new Medications Development Program's success with opiate addiction treatment must now be applied to the development of new treatments for cocaine addiction. With recent advances in neuroscience, imaging techniques, and pharmaceutical technology, the development of medications for significantly improving drug abuse treatment in a variety of directions holds real promise.
The effect of a single or repeated swim stress on in vivo benzodiazepine receptor binding to various brain regions in adrenalectomized and sham-operated (control) mice was assessed using the benzodiazepine receptor antagonist, [3H]Ro15-1788. In sham-operated mice the binding of [3H]Ro15-1788 to benzodiazepine receptors was reduced in the hippocampus and hypothalamus (single or repeated stress) and cerebral cortex (repeated swim stress) compared to non-stressed mice. In contrast, no alterations in [3H]Ro15-1788 binding were observed in any brain region in adrenalectomized mice after either single or repeated swim stress. These data suggest that an intact hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis is required for the stress-induced decrease in benzodiazepine receptor occupancy measured using the in vivo binding method.
The effects of repeated swim stress on brain benzodiazepine receptors were examined in the mouse using both an in vivo and in vitro binding method. Specific in vivo binding of [3H]Ro15-1788 to benzodiazepine receptors was decreased in the hippocampus, cerebral cortex, hypothalamus, midbrain and striatum after repeated swim stress (7 consecutive days of daily swim stress) when compared to nonstressed mice. In vivo benzodiazepine receptor binding was unaltered after repeated swim stress in the cerebellum and pons medulla. The stress-induced reduction in in vivo benzodiazepine receptor binding did not appear to be due to altered cerebral blood flow or to an alteration in benzodiazepine metabolism or biodistribution because there was no difference in [14C]iodoantipyrine distribution or whole brain concentrations of clonazepam after repeated swim stress. Saturation binding experiments revealed a change in both apparent maximal binding capacity and affinity after repeated swim stress. Moreover, a reduction in clonazepam's anticonvulsant potency was also observed after repeated swim stress [an increase in the ED50 dose for protection against pentylenetetrazol-induced seizures], although there was no difference in pentylenetetrazol-induced seizure threshold between the two groups. In contrast to the results obtained in vivo, no change in benzodiazepine receptor binding kinetics was observed using the in vitro binding method. These data suggest that environmental stress can alter the binding parameters of the benzodiazepine receptor and that the in vivo and in vitro binding methods can yield substantially different results.
Laboratory animals are used as models for humans in toxicity studies. This use is based on the assumption that extrapolation of biological data from animals to humans is valid. Three methods of extrapolation are considered: the use of body mass equivalence, caloric scaling across species, and the use of the surface area equivalence. Allometry, defined as the study of size and its consequences, is considered. There is still controversy whether there is an allometric relationship for energy metabolism. Allometry offers, among others, the concept that not all of the mass of the animal is equally involved in metabolism. In recent years the principles of pharmacokinetics have been applied to interspecies scaling; pharmacokinetic short-term studies can be used to determine whether allometric scaling is justified. Considerations, however, should be given to (pharmacokinetic) differences in the same species and to species variability. It would be useful to develop a set of criteria for deciding when the pharmacokinetic model is needed and when simpler models will suffice.
The specific binding of [3H]GBR-12935 to membranes prepared from human caudate nucleus is saturable (Bmax 1.36 +/- 0.18 pmol/mg protein), sodium dependent and of high affinity (KD 2.34 +/- 0.18 nM). Freezing of tissue from rat brain, or refrigeration followed by freezing, results in a small but significant (less than or equal to 20%) decrease in specific [3H]GBR-12935 binding when compared to the binding observed in fresh (nonfrozen) tissue, and this decrease may account, in part, for the differences in specific binding between rat and human brain membranes. Despite small differences in binding site density between fresh and frozen tissue there is a good correlation (r = 0.98; p less than 0.01) between the potencies of a series of drugs in displacing specific [3H]GBR-12935 binding to human caudate membranes and rat striatum as well as in inhibiting dopamine uptake in rat striatal synaptosomes (r = 0.96; p less than 0.01). The specific binding of [3H]GBR-12935 to membranes prepared from the caudate nuclei of patients with Parkinson's disease is decreased compared to membranes prepared from age- and sex-matched controls. These data suggest that [3H]GBR-12935 binds in a sodium-dependent fashion to the dopamine transport complex in human brain and that specific binding is decreased by a pathological degeneration of dopaminergic neurons to the caudate nucleus.
High-affinity and saturable binding sites for the diphenyl-substituted piperazine derivative [3H]GBR-12935 have been characterized in crude synaptosomal membranes prepared from rat brain. The specific binding of [3H]GBR-12935 is sodium-dependent and is unevenly distributed among various brain regions, with the highest concentration of binding sites being found in the corpus striatum and nucleus accumbens. Sodium-dependent [3H]GBR-12935 binding in all other brain areas was 10% or less of the binding found in the striatum. The affinity of [3H]GBR-12935 for binding sites in the striatum is increased in the presence of Na+ but other cations, including K+, Ca2+, or Mg2+, inhibit specific binding. There is an excellent correlation (r = 0.96, p less than 0.01) between the potencies of a series of drugs in inhibiting [3H]GBR-12935 binding to striatal membranes and their potencies in inhibiting [3H]3,4-dihydroxyphenylethylamine ([3H]dopamine) uptake in synaptosomes. Agonists and antagonists of other neurotransmitter receptor or drug recognition sites have little or no effect on specific [3H]GBR-12935 binding to striatal membranes. In addition, prior intracerebroventricular administration of 6-hydroxydopamine results in a decrease in the number of specific [3H]GBR-12935 binding sites in the striatum. These data indicate that [3H]GBR-12935 is a selective radioligand of the presynaptic dopamine transport complex in brain.
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