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Biomedical subjects

J D Leander

Publications and source records attributed to J D Leander.

155 records · Page 9Linked to original sources

Schedule control of the vocal behavior of Cebus monkeys.

The vocal behavior of three Cebus monkeys was maintained by fixed-ratio schedules of response dependent reinforcement at values between fixed-ratio 1 and fixed-ratio 15. In one monkey that was exposed to variable-interval, fixed-interval, and conjunctive fixed-ratio fixed-interval schedules of reinforcement, vocal responding occurred at a low rate, but schedule-appropriate patterns were maintained. The rates and patterns of responding engendered indicated that the vocal operant can be brought under schedule control in the monkey by the use of response-dependent reinforcement.

Journal Article↗

Comparison of two penicillamine-containing enkephalins: mu, not delta, activity produces analgesia.

Two penicillamine-containing enkephalin analogs were compared for inhibition of mouse writhing after intracerebroventricular administration. The delta receptor-selective analog was less potent in inhibiting writhing than the non-selective analog. Inhibition of writhing produced by the delta-selective analog was antagonized by very low doses of naloxone, and produced additive analgesic effects with the delta receptor antagonist, ICI 174864. These results suggest that inhibition of writhing was produced by mu receptor agonist activity, and not delta receptor agonist activity.

Analgesia↗

Metkephamid effects on operant behavior.

Intravenous injections of high doses of metkephamid (20 and 40 mg/kg) decreased responding by pigeons under a multiple fixed-ratio, fixed-interval schedule of grain presentation. Naloxone antagonized in a dose-related manner the suppression of behavior produced by 40 mg/kg of metkephamid. Daily maintenance on large doses (30 and 60 mg/kg PO) of dlmethadone produced a slight shift of the dose-effect curve of metkephamid to the right. The data suggest that the behavioral effects of metkephamid are due to an action at a mu-opioid receptor.

Animals↗

Evaluation of dextromethorphan and carbetapentane as anticonvulsants and N-methyl-D-aspartic acid antagonists in mice.

Two antitussives, dextromethorphan and carbetapentane, which have been reported to bind to a common binding site in brain tissue and produce anticonvulsant effects in rats, were evaluated for their anticonvulsant effects against maximal electroshock-induced seizures, for their neurological impairing effects on the horizontal screen test, and their protective effects against N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA)-induced lethality in mice. Both compounds protected animals against maximal electroshock-induced seizures in a dose-related fashion after either intraperitoneal or oral administration. The neurologically impairing doses were approximately 1.5 times the anticonvulsant doses. As a function of dose, dextromethorphan, but not carbetapentane, protected mice from NMDA-induced lethality. Since carbetapentane had an anticonvulsant action without protecting against NMDA-induced lethality, these data support the hypothesis that dextromethorphan and carbetapentane may have a common anticonvulsant action separate from the phencyclidine-like, NMDA-antagonist action which only dextromethorphan exhibits.

Animals↗

Pharmacology of LY201409, a potent benzamide anticonvulsant.

LY201116 [4-amino-N-(2,6-dimethylphenyl)benzamide], an effective anticonvulsant in several animal models, is rapidly metabolized by N-acetylation in rats, mice and monkeys. In an attempt to preclude metabolic N-acetylation sterically, we investigated LY201409, an analogue possessing two methyl groups ortho to the 4-amino substituent. This structural modification successfully altered the metabolic pathway, and LY201409 displayed potent anticonvulsant activity. LY201409 antagonized maximal electroshock (MES)-induced seizures with ED50 values of 16.2 and 4.2 mg/kg after oral administration to mice and rats, respectively. The compound did not effectively antagonize seizures induced by a variety of chemical convulsants in rats, but did block pentylenetetrazol-induced seizures in mice. Thus, among the classic anticonvulsants, the profile of phenytoin most closely resembles that of LY201409. Studies conducted with the rotorod and horizontal screen assays in mice and behavioral studies in rats suggested that doses of LY201409 that produced CNS side-effects such as sedation or ataxia were well separated from the anti-MES doses. LY201409 was a potent, dose-dependent potentiator of hexobarbital-induced sleeping time in mice. Oral administration of 6.0 mg/kg led to a 372% increase in sleep time relative to control values. Although LY201409 is a potent and effective anticonvulsant, it is also one of the most potent potentiators of hexobarbital-induced sleep time yet described.

Animals↗

Pharmacological effects of enantiomers of 4-amino-N-(alpha-methylbenzyl)benzamide, a chemically novel anticonvulsant.

LY 188544,S,R-4-amino-N-(alpha-methylbenzyl) benzamide, and its two stereoisomers are structurally novel anticonvulsants. The anticonvulsant profile of LY 188544 after intraperitoneal administration to mice was determined in standard anticonvulsant tests: maximal electric shock (MES), strychnine tonic-extensor, and threshold tests using pentylenetetrazol, picrotoxin, and bicuculline. In this series of tests, LY 188544 had good activity in the MES test and some activity in the three threshold tests. Thus, its profile of activity was most similar to that of phenobarbital, and less similar to that of phenytoin and carbamazepine. After oral administration to mice and rats, LY188544 was effective in the MES test, but did not provide complete protection in the threshold pentylenetetrazol test. When the individual stereoisomers, LY188545 (S isomer) and LY188546 (R isomer), were evaluated after oral administration, LY188545 was 2.2 times more potent than LY188546 against MES-induced seizures. However, when evaluated after intravenous administration, the potency difference was only 1.1. LY188546 was the least toxic in terms of neurological impairment. All compounds had good protective indexes (ratio between doses for neurological impairment and doses for anticonvulsant efficacy in the MES test). LY188545 and LY188546 potentiated hexobarbital sleeping time after acute administration but not after chronic (4-day) administration. Tolerance did not develop to the effects of LY188546 on MES or neurological impairment after 4 days of administration. These results suggest that LY188546 is a chemically novel anticonvulsant with a promising pharmacological profile.

Animals↗

Fluoxetine, a selective serotonin-uptake inhibitor, enhances the anticonvulsant effects of phenytoin, carbamazepine, and ameltolide (LY201116).

Dose-response curves for the prototypical anticonvulsants phenytoin (PHT) and carbamazepine (CBZ), and a novel anticonvulsant, ameltolide (LY201116), were determined with and without pretreatment with the selective serotonin-uptake inhibitor fluoxetine by maximal electroshock seizure (MES) test in mice. Fluoxetine (2.5, 5, and 10 mg/kg intraperitoneally, i.p.) produced a dose-related decrease in the ED50 values for the anticonvulsants (i.p. administration) to protect against MES-induced tonic-extensor seizures. Fluoxetine (10 mg/kg i.p.) also decreased the intravenous (i.v.) ED50 doses of the three anticonvulsants by a factor of approximately 2. These data suggest that fluoxetine, through its selective inhibition of serotonergic reuptake, may have beneficial advantages as compared with common antidepressant drugs in treatment of depressed patients with epilepsy and may also enhance the seizure control of prototypical anticonvulsants in treatment of epilepsy.

Animals↗

Relation of plasma and brain concentrations of the anticonvulsant ameltolide to its pharmacologic effects.

Ameltolide, a newly described anticonvulsant, was studied to determine the relation between dose administered, plasma and brain concentrations, and pharmacologic effects. The relation of the N-acetyl metabolite and the OH-N-acetyl metabolite to the dose administered and to the pharmacologic effects was also determined. Ameltolide plasma concentrations in both mice and rats were linearly related to dose administered over the entire dose range from low doses, at which the anticonvulsant effects were noted, to high doses, at which neurologic impairment occurred. The plasma concentrations of the metabolites were not as consistently linearly dose-related in the two species. In rats, the brain concentrations of ameltolide were highly correlated with plasma concentrations and the doses administered. Ameltolide was shown to have a phenytoin (PHT)-like anticonvulsant profile in vitro in the cortical slice preparation. These data confirm the potent anticonvulsant profile of ameltolide and the lack of significant activity of the metabolites.

Animals↗

Interaction of the anticonvulsant ameltolide with standard anticonvulsants.

The newly characterized anticonvulsant ameltolide was studied in mice in combination with the standard antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), phenytoin (PHT), carbamazepine (CBZ), and valproate (VPA). In combination with either PHT or CBZ, ameltolide produced dose-additive effects in the maximal electroshock (MES) test and in the horizontal screen (HS) test for neurologic impairment. The large separation between the doses for the anticonvulsant effects and the neurologically impairing effects (protective index, PI) were maintained as well in the combinations as in the individual compounds. VPA was impotent in the MES test and did not have a clear separation between the doses that produce the anticonvulsant effects and those that are neurologically impairing (low PI). When VPA and ameltolide were combined, the effects were less than additive by isobolographic analysis on both the MES and HS tests. At high oral doses (20 and 40 mg/kg, p.o.), ameltolide produced impairment on the HS test and decreased body temperature. The effects on the HS test were enhanced twofold, whereas the effects on body temperature were not markedly enhanced, by coadministration of the MES ED95 of PHT and CBZ. VPA (MES ED95) appeared to antagonize the temperature-lowering effects of ameltolide. These interaction studies suggest that ameltolide would be safe, with no unexpected effects, when used in epileptic patients concurrently receiving these standard AEDs. These studies also suggest that the effects of ameltolide would be lessened by simultaneous administration of VPA.

Animals↗

Metabolism of the prodrug DEGA (N-(2,6-dimethylphenyl)-4-[[(diethylamino)acetyl]amino]benzamide) to the potent anticonvulsant LY201116 in mice. Effect of bis-(p-nitrophenyl)phosphate.

In mice, the diethylglycineamide analogue of LY201116, DEGA (N-(2,6-dimethylphenyl)-4-[[(diethylamino)acetyl]amino]benzamide), is metabolized by consecutive N-deethylations for form MEGA and GA; the monoethylglycineamide and glycineamide analogues of LY201116, respectively. All of these compounds are in turn hydrolyzed to form LY201116 [4-amino-N-(2,6-dimethylphenyl)benzamide]. LY201116 is N-acetylated to form the N-acetyl metabolite, NAC. NAC is also deacetylated to reform LY201116. All of the above compounds inhibit maximal electroshock-induced seizures (MES) in mice. After oral administration, the potencies of these compounds were similar at their time of peak anticonvulsant effect. However, the MES ED50 values for the above compounds 5 min after iv dosing were 43, 13, 2, and 0.5 mg/kg for DEGA, MEGA, GA, and LY201116, respectively. Similar plasma levels of LY201116 were produced in mice 5 min after iv dosing with the respective ED50 values of the above compounds, which suggested that all of the compounds produced their anticonvulsant effects via LY201116. The in vivo metabolism of DEGA and MEGA but not GA to LY201116 was inhibited by the acylamidase inhibitor bis-(p-nitrophenyl) phosphate (BNPP). Mice predosed with BNPP were not protected by DEGA and MEGA from MES-induced seizures and the plasma samples contained little or no LY201116. The metabolism of GA to LY201116 was not inhibited by BNPP, and GA was an active anticonvulsant in BNPP-pretreated mice. The apparent iv potency of DEGA increased dramatically with time after dosing, again suggesting time-dependent, metabolically mediated liberation of the more potent anticonvulsant LY201116.

Animals↗