clozapine and 4-methylhistamine

Clozapine is an effective antipsychotic for treatment-resistant schizophrenia, but can cause fatal hematopoietic toxicity as agranulocytosis. To elucidate the mechanism of hematopoietic toxicity induced by clozapine, we developed an in vitro assay system using HL-60 cells, and investigated the effect on hematopoiesis. HL-60 cells were differentiated by all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) into three states according to the following hematopoietic process: undifferentiated HL-60 cells, those undergoing granulocytic ATRA-differentiation, and ATRA-differentiated granulocytic cells. Hematopoietic toxicity was evaluated by analyzing cell survival, cell proliferation, granulocytic differentiation, apoptosis, and necrosis. In undifferentiated HL-60 cells and ATRA-differentiated granulocytic cells, both clozapine (50 and 100μM) and doxorubicin (0.2µM) decreased the cell survival rate, but olanzapine (1-100µM) did not. Under granulocytic differentiation for 5days, clozapine, even at a concentration of 25μM, decreased survival without affecting granulocytic differentiation, increased caspase activity, and caused apoptosis rather than necrosis. Histamine H4 receptor mRNA was expressed in HL-60 cells, whereas the expression decreased under granulocytic ATRA-differentiation little by little. Both thioperamide, a histamine H4 receptor antagonist, and DEVD-FMK, a caspase-3 inhibitor, exerted protection against clozapine-induced survival rate reduction, but not of live cell counts. 4-Methylhistamine, a histamine H4 receptor agonist, decreased the survival rate and live cell counts, as did clozapine. HL-60 cells under granulocytic differentiation are vulnerable under in vitro assay conditions to hematopoietic toxicity induced by clozapine. Histamine H4 receptor is involved in the development of clozapine-induced hematopoietic toxicity through apoptosis, and may be a potential target for preventing its occurrence through granulocytic differentiation.

Topics: Antipsychotic Agents; Apoptosis; Cell Differentiation; Clozapine; Granulocytes; Histamine Antagonists; HL-60 Cells; Humans; Methylhistamines; Piperidines; Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled; Receptors, Histamine; Receptors, Histamine H4; Tretinoin

The histamine H(4) receptor (H(4)R) is involved in the chemotaxis of leukocytes and mast cells to sites of inflammation and is suggested to be a potential drug target for asthma and allergy. So far, selective H(4)R agonists have not been identified. In the present study, we therefore evaluated the human H(4)R (hH(4)R) for its interaction with various known histaminergic ligands. Almost all of the tested H(1)R and H(2)R antagonists, including several important therapeutics, displaced less than 30% of specific [(3)H]histamine binding to the hH(4)R at concentrations up to 10 microM. Most of the tested H(2)R agonists and imidazole-based H(3)R ligands show micromolar-to-nanomolar range hH(4)R affinity, and these ligands exert different intrinsic hH(4)R activities, ranging from full agonists to inverse agonists. Interestingly, we identified 4-methylhistamine as a high-affinity H(4)R ligand (K(i) = 50 nM) that has a >100-fold selectivity for the hH(4)R over the other histamine receptor subtypes. Moreover, 4-methylhistamine potently activated the hH(4)R (pEC(50) = 7.4 +/- 0.1; alpha = 1), and this response was competitively antagonized by the selective H(4)R antagonist JNJ 7777120 [1-[(5-chloro-1H-indol-2-yl)-carbonyl]-4-methylpiperazine] (pA(2) = 7.8). The identification of 4-methylhistamine as a potent H(4)R agonist is of major importance for future studies to unravel the physiological roles of the H(4)R.

Topics: Cell Line; Histamine Agonists; Humans; Imidazoles; Indoles; Isothiuronium; Ligands; Methylhistamines; Piperazines; Radioligand Assay; Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled; Receptors, Histamine; Receptors, Histamine H1; Receptors, Histamine H2; Receptors, Histamine H3; Receptors, Histamine H4