bemesetron and Disease-Models--Animal

When Zika virus emerged as a public health emergency there were no drugs or vaccines approved for its prevention or treatment. We used a high-throughput screen for Zika virus protease inhibitors to identify several inhibitors of Zika virus infection. We expressed the NS2B-NS3 Zika virus protease and conducted a biochemical screen for small-molecule inhibitors. A quantitative structure-activity relationship model was employed to virtually screen ∼138,000 compounds, which increased the identification of active compounds, while decreasing screening time and resources. Candidate inhibitors were validated in several viral infection assays. Small molecules with favorable clinical profiles, especially the five-lipoxygenase-activating protein inhibitor, MK-591, inhibited the Zika virus protease and infection in neural stem cells. Members of the tetracycline family of antibiotics were more potent inhibitors of Zika virus infection than the protease, suggesting they may have multiple mechanisms of action. The most potent tetracycline, methacycline, reduced the amount of Zika virus present in the brain and the severity of Zika virus-induced motor deficits in an immunocompetent mouse model. As Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs, the tetracyclines could be quickly translated to the clinic. The compounds identified through our screening paradigm have the potential to be used as prophylactics for patients traveling to endemic regions or for the treatment of the neurological complications of Zika virus infection.

Topics: Animals; Antiviral Agents; Artificial Intelligence; Chlorocebus aethiops; Disease Models, Animal; Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; High-Throughput Screening Assays; Immunocompetence; Inhibitory Concentration 50; Methacycline; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Protease Inhibitors; Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship; Small Molecule Libraries; Vero Cells; Zika Virus; Zika Virus Infection

A series of twenty two (E)-N-cinnamoyl aminoalkanols derivatives monosubstituted in phenyl ring with 4-Cl, 4-CH

Topics: Amino Alcohols; Animals; Anticonvulsants; Crystallography, X-Ray; Disease Models, Animal; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Electroshock; Mice; Models, Molecular; Molecular Structure; Rats; Seizures; Structure-Activity Relationship

Pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) has been reported to be effective in the treatment of several types of pain. The mechanism of action, however, is not well known. In a recent study, the antinociceptive effects of acute thermal pain were shown to be mediated via descending pain inhibitory pathways. In this study we observed an analgesic effect of PRF treatment in an adjuvant induced inflammatory pain model in rats. In this model, sciatic nerves were treated with PRF at 37 degrees and 42 degrees , which inhibited hyperalgesia in the inflammatory groups when compared to RF and sham treatment. This effect was attenuated after intrathecal administration of the alpha2-adrenoceptor antagonist yohimbine, the selective 5-HT3 serotonin receptor antagonist MDL72222, and the non-selective serotonin receptor antagonist methysergide. All three drugs were found to significantly inhibit the analgesic effect of PRF. The results suggest that the analgesic action of PRF involves the enhancement of noradrenergic and serotonergic descending pain inhibitory pathways.

Topics: Adrenergic alpha-Antagonists; Analgesia; Animals; Brain Stem; Catecholamines; Catheter Ablation; Disease Models, Animal; Efferent Pathways; Freund's Adjuvant; Inflammation; Male; Neural Inhibition; Nociceptors; Pain; Pain Management; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Sciatic Neuropathy; Serotonin; Serotonin Antagonists; Treatment Outcome; Tropanes; Yohimbine

cis-4-(Piperazin-1-yl)-5,6,7a,8,9,10,11,11a-octahydrobenzofuro[2,3-h]quinazolin-2-amine, 4 (A-987306) is a new histamine H(4) antagonist. The compound is potent in H(4) receptor binding assays (rat H(4), K(i) = 3.4 nM, human H(4) K(i) = 5.8 nM) and demonstrated potent functional antagonism in vitro at human, rat, and mouse H(4) receptors in cell-based FLIPR assays. Compound 4 also demonstrated H(4) antagonism in vivo in mice, blocking H(4)-agonist induced scratch responses, and showed anti-inflammatory activity in mice in a peritonitis model. Most interesting was the high potency and efficacy of this compound in blocking pain responses, where it showed an ED(50) of 42 mumol/kg (ip) in a rat post-carrageenan thermal hyperalgesia model of inflammatory pain.

Topics: Animals; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; Benzofurans; Carrageenan; Disease Models, Animal; Drug Design; Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; Humans; Hyperalgesia; Ligands; Mice; Molecular Structure; Pain; Peritonitis; Quinazolines; Rats; Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled; Receptors, Histamine; Receptors, Histamine H4; Stereoisomerism; Structure-Activity Relationship

The use of high doses of cisplatin in treating cancers has been limited by two major adverse effects--emesis and peripheral neuropathies. The emesis has become largely controlled by the introduction of a new class of drugs--the 5-HT3 receptor antagonists. The current study was undertaken to determine if these drugs would also prevent cisplatin-induced neuropathy. We have used a developing rat as an animal model and determined the effects of cisplatin on morphology (loss of spinal cord calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP)-containing neurons) and behavior (gait abnormalities and pain perception). Rat pups from the age of 5 days were treated twice weekly for 4 weeks with cisplatin (1 mg/kg), the 5-HT3 antagonist MDL 72222 (3 mg/kg) or both. The animals were tested for pain perception (using tail-flick latencies) at 17 and 21 days of age and for a gait abnormality at 24 days of age. At 34 days of age, the animals were perfused and the lumbar region of the spinal cords stained immunocytochemically for CGRP. Our results show that cisplatin treatment resulted in a dramatic loss of CGRP neurons in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord and a corresponding increase in the animals' threshold for pain. In addition, the animals showed a pronounced gait abnormality, characterized by 'toeing-in'. Treatment with MDL 72222 not only failed to protect against the loss of CGRP neurons but also worsened the gait abnormalities seen after cisplatin treatment alone. These studies confirm and extend the list of morphological and functional adverse effects of cisplatin treatment.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Topics: Analysis of Variance; Animals; Behavior, Animal; Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide; Cell Count; Cisplatin; Disease Models, Animal; Gait; Immunohistochemistry; Male; Neurons; Pain Threshold; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Serotonin Antagonists; Spinal Cord; Tropanes; Vomiting