entacapone and nitecapone

Degradation of levodopa in the periphery is known to be associated with motor fluctuations and dyskinesia in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. The enzyme catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) is responsible for much of this degradation. Therefore, inhibiting COMT activity is one method of extending the action of levodopa. The new nitrocatechol-type COMT inhibitors entacapone, nitecapone, and tolcapone inhibit COMT in the periphery; tolcapone also inhibits COMT activity centrally. COMT inhibitors increase patients' duration of response to levodopa and reduce response fluctuations. Administration may prolong levodopa-induced dyskinesia, but peak-dose dyskinesia does not appear to increase. To reduce dyskinesia, the total daily dose of levodopa can be reduced.

Topics: Antiparkinson Agents; Benzophenones; Catechol O-Methyltransferase; Catechol O-Methyltransferase Inhibitors; Catechols; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Drug Interactions; Drug Therapy, Combination; Enzyme Inhibitors; Humans; Levodopa; Nitriles; Nitrophenols; Parkinson Disease; Pentanones; Tolcapone

1. The structure of catechol O-methyltransferase (COMT) has been recently characterized and a series of new and selective COMT inhibitors developed. 2. Entacapone, nitecapone and tolcapone are nitrocatechol-type potent COMT inhibitors in vitro (Ki in nanomolar range). They are also very selective for COMT and active in vivo even after oral administration. CGP 28014 is a pyridine derivative that is active only in vivo. 3. In animal studies, these compounds inhibit effectively the O-methylation of L-dopa, thus improving its bioavailability and brain penetration and potentiating its behavioural effects. 4. Entacapone and nitecapone have mainly a peripheral effect whereas tolcapone and CGP 28014 also inhibit O-methylation in the brain. 5. In man, entacapone, nitecapone and tolcapone all inhibit dose dependently the COMT activity in erythrocytes. These COMT inhibitors also decrease the amount of COMT dependent metabolites of adrenaline and noradrenaline in plasma. 6. In human volunteers, entacapone, tolcapone and CGP 28014 improve the bioavailability of L-dopa and inhibit the formation of 3-O-methyldopa. 7. In the first clinical studies in patients with Parkinson's disease, both entacapone and tolcapone potentiate and prolong the therapeutic effect of L-dopa.

Topics: Animals; Behavior, Animal; Benzophenones; Catechol O-Methyltransferase Inhibitors; Catecholamines; Catechols; Dihydroxyphenylalanine; Humans; Levodopa; Microdialysis; Nitriles; Nitrophenols; Pentanones; Tolcapone; Tomography, Emission-Computed

In recent years, several nitrocatechol derivatives (tolcapone, entacapone, and nitecapone) have been developed and found to be highly selective and potent inhibitors of catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT). More recently, natriuretic properties were described for two of these compounds (entacapone and nitecapone), although this was not accompanied by enhanced urinary excretion of dopamine. We hypothesized that nitrocatechol derivatives stimulate D1-like dopamine receptors.. Adult male Wistar rats were treated with a nitrocatechol COMT inhibitor (entacapone, tolcapone, or nitecapone, 30 mg/kg, orally), and the urinary excretion of dopamine and sodium was quantitated. The interaction of nitrocatechol derivatives with D1-like receptors was evaluated by their ability to displace [3H]-Sch23390 binding from membranes of rat renal cortex and cAMP production in opossum kidney (OK) cells.. Urinary excretion of sodium (micromol/h) was markedly increased by all three nitrocatechol derivatives: vehicle, 55.0 +/- 5.6; entacapone, 98.4 +/- 9.3; tolcapone, 97.5 +/- 9.3; and nitecapone, 120.5 +/- 12.6. Pretreatment with the selective D1 antagonist Sch 23390 (60 microg/kg) completely prevented their natriuretic effects. Nitecapone and tolcapone were equipotent (IC50s of 48 and 42 micromol/L) and more potent than entacapone and dopamine (IC50s of 107 and 279 micromol/L) in displacing [3H]-Sch23390 binding. In OK cells, all three nitrocatechol derivatives significantly increased cAMP accumulation and reduced Na(+)/H(+) exchange and Na(+),K(+)-ATPase activities, this being prevented by a blockade of D1-like receptors.. Stimulation of D1-like dopamine receptors and inhibition of Na(+)/H(+) exchange and Na(+),K(+)-ATPase activities by nitrocatechol COMT inhibitors may contribute to natriuresis produced by these compounds.

Topics: Animals; Benzazepines; Benzophenones; Binding, Competitive; Catechol O-Methyltransferase Inhibitors; Catechols; Cell Line; Cyclic AMP; Enzyme Inhibitors; In Vitro Techniques; Ion Transport; Kidney Cortex; Male; Natriuresis; Nitriles; Nitrophenols; Opossums; Pentanones; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Receptors, Dopamine D1; Sodium-Potassium-Exchanging ATPase; Tolcapone

Topics: Antiparkinson Agents; Benzamides; Biomarkers; Catechol O-Methyltransferase Inhibitors; Catechols; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Humans; Male; Methoxyhydroxyphenylglycol; Moclobemide; Monoamine Oxidase; Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors; Nitriles; Norepinephrine; Pentanones; Selegiline

The efficacy of levo-DOPA in the treatment of Parkinson's disease is potentiated by blockade of its peripheral metabolism with inhibitors of catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT). Some COMT inhibitors may act entirely in the periphery (nitecapone, OR-462), while others may also have some activity in brain (entacapone, OR-611). We used positron emission tomography (PET) to test the effects of these two COMT inhibitors on the plasma kinetics and brain metabolism of the levo-DOPA analog 6-[18F]fluoro-L-dopa (FDOPA) in cynomolgus monkeys, employing a compartmental model for the assay of DOPA decarboxylase activity in living brain. Four monkeys each underwent two PET scans in the baseline condition, one PET scan after treatment with OR-462 (15 mg/kg, i.v.), and one PET scan after treatment with OR-611 (15 mg/kg, i.v.). Pharmacokinetic analysis of FDOPA metabolism in plasma indicated that these compounds blocked peripheral COMT activity by 80% for at least 60 minutes. Both COMT inhibitors increased the net availability of FDOPA in circulation, and increased the ratio of the radioactivity concentrations in striatum and occipital cortex, suggesting that [18F]fluorodopamine synthesis in striatum was potentiated. However, OR-611 treatment reduced the unidirectional (K1D) and net (Ki) blood-brain clearances of FDOPA, and also inhibited the rate of decarboxylation (k3D) of FDOPA in striatum. These observations suggest that high doses of OR-611 may partially antagonize the cerebral utilization of levo-DOPA. We used the present data to test the sensitivity of the compartmental model to the physiological constraint that the blood-brain permeabilities of the O-methylated plasma metabolite and FDOPA have a fixed ratio. In the groups with COMT inhibition, the estimates of k3D were insensitive to the magnitude of the permeability ratio. In the control group, the estimate of k3D increased by 40% as the magnitude of the constrained permeability ratio increased in the range of published estimates.

Topics: Animals; Brain; Catechol O-Methyltransferase Inhibitors; Catechols; Enzyme Inhibitors; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; Macaca mulatta; Male; Models, Neurological; Nitriles; Pentanones; Tissue Distribution; Tomography, Emission-Computed

Nitrocatechol COMT inhibitors are a new class of bioactive compounds, for which glucuronidation is the most important metabolic pathway. The objective was to characterize the enzyme kinetics of nitrocatechol glucuronidation to improve the understanding and predicting of the pharmacokinetic behavior of this class of compounds.. The glucuronidation kinetics of seven nitrocatechols and 4-nitrophenol, the reference substrate for phenol UDP-glucuronosyltransferase activity, was measured in liver microsomes from creosote-treated rats and determined by non-linear fitting of the experimental data to the Michaelis-Menten equation. A new method that combined densitometric and radioactivity measurement of the glucuronides separated by HPTLC was developed for the quantification.. Apparent K(m) values for the nitrocatechols varied greatly depending on substitution pattern being comparable with 4-nitrophenol (0.11 mM) only in the case of 4-nitrocatechol (0.19 mM). Simple nitrocatechols showed two-fold Vmax values compared with 4-nitrophenol (68.6 nmol min-1 mg-1), while all disubstituted catechols exhibited much lower glucuronidation rate. Vmax/K(m) values were about 10 times higher for monosubstituted catechols compared to disubstituted ones. The kinetic parameters for COMT inhibitors were in the following order: K(m) nitecapone > > entacapone > tolcapone; Vmax nitecapone > entacapone > tolcapone; Vmax/K(m) tolcapone > nitecapone > entacapone.. Nitrocatechols can in principle be good substrates of UGTs. However, substituents may have a remarkable effect on the enzyme kinetic parameters. The different behaviour of nitecapone compared to the other COMT inhibitors may be due to its hydrophilic 5-substituent. The longer elimination half-life of tolcapone in vivo compared to entacapone could not be explained by glucuronidation kinetics in vitro.

Topics: Animals; Benzophenones; Catechol O-Methyltransferase Inhibitors; Catechols; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Chromatography, Thin Layer; Densitometry; Enzyme Inhibitors; Glucuronosyltransferase; Kinetics; Male; Microsomes, Liver; Nitriles; Nitrophenols; Pentanones; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Structure-Activity Relationship; Substrate Specificity; Tolcapone

Nitecapone [3-(3,4-dihydroxy-5-nitrobenzylidene)-2,4-pentanedione], is a scavenger of nitric oxide produced in vitro. It reduced the rate of methemoglobin formation from oxyhemoglobin exposed to nitric oxide generated from the reaction of hydroxylamine with Complex I of catalase and it decreased the amount of nitrite formed in the reaction of oxygen with nitric oxide generated from sodium nitroprusside. Nitecapone also affected the L-arginine dependent accumulation of nitrite in a suspension of peritoneal rat neutrophils. The related compounds entacapone [2-cyano-N, N-diethyl-3-(3,4 dihydroxy-5-nitrobenzyl)-propenamide] and OR 1246 [3-(3,4-dihydroxy-5-nitrobenzyl)-2,4-pentanedione] were also able to scavenge nitric oxide. The action of nitecapone on nitric oxide expands the role of nitecapone as a scavenger of reactive oxygen species, and suggests nitecapone, entacapone and OR 1246 as potential therapeutic agents for the treatment of diseases connected with increased production of nitric oxide.

Topics: Animals; Antioxidants; Catechols; Cattle; Free Radical Scavengers; Hemoglobins; Nitric Oxide; Nitriles; Oxidation-Reduction; Pentanones; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

3-Nitropyrocatechols are very potent and selective inhibitors of catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT). LD50 values of three of these compounds were assessed after intraperitoneal administration with a special emphasis on interactions with drugs increasing catecholaminergic neurotransmission. LD50 values of the inhibitors varied from 137 mg/kg (Ro 41-0960) to 507 mg/kg (OR-462) and 544 mg/kg (OR-611). The LD50 value of Ro 41-0960 was significantly lower than that of OR-462 and OR-611 (P less than 0.05). At toxic dose levels all inhibitors caused convulsions and hypomotility. OR-462 and OR-611 had statistically significant mortality increasing interaction with 20 mg/kg of nomifensine (P less than 0.05) and the former also with 10 mg/kg of amphetamine (P less than 0.05). Owing to their high therapeutic indexes these compounds can be considered useful new tools in pharmacological research.

Topics: Amphetamine; Animals; Benzophenones; Carbidopa; Catechol O-Methyltransferase Inhibitors; Catecholamines; Catechols; Clorgyline; Convulsants; Desipramine; Drug Interactions; Lethal Dose 50; Levodopa; Male; Mice; Motor Activity; Nitriles; Nomifensine; Pentanones; Selegiline; Synaptic Transmission; Yohimbine

We studied the effectiveness of OR-611 and OR-462, two novel inhibitors of the enzyme catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), on 3-O-methyldopa (OMD) formation in cynomolgus monkeys following intravenous levodopa administration. OR-611 dose-dependently reduced the area under the OMD concentration-vs-time curve, reduced maximum plasma OMD concentrations, delayed the time to peak OMD levels, reduced systemic levodopa clearance, and prolonged the elimination half-life of levodopa. Similar effects on peripheral levodopa metabolism were seen with doses of 15 mg/kg of OR-611 and OR-462, its sister compound, which lacks the ability to penetrate the central nervous system (CNS).

Topics: Animals; Catechol O-Methyltransferase Inhibitors; Catechols; Levodopa; Macaca fascicularis; Male; Nitriles; Parkinson Disease; Pentanones; Tyrosine