u-50488 and Ischemic-Attack--Transient

The purpose of this study was to determine the therapeutic efficacy of three kappa-opioid agonists used for delayed treatment of experimental focal cerebral ischemia.. Forty halothane-anesthetized cats underwent permanent occlusion of the right intracranial internal carotid, middle cerebral, and anterior cerebral arteries via a transorbital, microsurgical approach. Six hours after occlusion, animals received a blinded bolus injection, and a subcutaneous osmotic pump was implanted to provide continuous release for 7 days. The injection and pump contained either saline or one of three kappa-agonists: dynorphin (1-13), U-50,488, or DuP E3800. Survival, neurological function, tissue damage, and brain weight were assessed.. As a group, kappa-agonist-treated animals had higher survival (P < .02), less tissue damage (P < .02), and lower brain weight (P < .05) than saline controls. U-50,488 more effectively improved survival (P < .03) than dynorphin (P < .07) or E3800 (P < .07). Each of the three kappa compounds improved tissue damage (dynorphin, P < .02; U-50,488, P < .05; E3800, P < .05). Greater improvement in neurological function was seen after treatment with dynorphin (P < .05) than with U-50,488 (P < .6) or E3800 (P < .7). The only significant reduction in brain weight was seen after dynorphin treatment (P < .01).. Compounds that act at the kappa subclass of opiate receptors are effective in increasing survival, improving neurological function, and decreasing tissue damage and edema in a cat model of focal cerebral ischemia. The current study provides support for the benefits of treatment of acute cerebrovascular ischemia with kappa-opioid agonists. The agents may prove to be of superior clinical utility because of efficacy even when administered 6 hours after the onset of stroke.

Topics: 3,4-Dichloro-N-methyl-N-(2-(1-pyrrolidinyl)-cyclohexyl)-benzeneacetamide, (trans)-Isomer; Analgesics; Animals; Benzeneacetamides; Brain; Cats; Dynorphins; Infusion Pumps; Injections, Intravenous; Ischemic Attack, Transient; Male; Optic Chiasm; Organ Size; Pyrrolidines; Sensation; Single-Blind Method; Survival Rate; Tetrahydronaphthalenes; Time Factors; Walking

Many pharmacotherapies for stroke that have been successful in the laboratory have proven to be ineffective in the clinical setting, often because patients do not arrive for treatment until hours after the onset of the ischemic insult. Kappa opioid treatment of cerebral ischemia has been successful in the cat and mouse with treatment delays of up to 6 h. The purpose of the present study was to develop a model of delayed kappa opioid treatment of cerebral ischemia in the rabbit. Fourteen rabbits underwent permanent, unilateral occlusion of the internal carotid, middle cerebral, and anterior cerebral arteries via a transorbital, microsurgical approach. At 6 h postocclusion, animals received a blinded bolus injection and continuous infusion of either saline or the kappa agonist, U50488. Survival was not improved after U50488 treatment. U50488 treatment did, however, reduce areas of severe tissue damage and increase areas of modest tissue damage. This suggests U50488 arrested the progression of damage from noninfarcted to fully infarcted tissue. The present results show beneficial effects of delayed treatment with kappa agonists in a species similar in vasculature to humans, and much less costly than primates or cats.

Topics: 3,4-Dichloro-N-methyl-N-(2-(1-pyrrolidinyl)-cyclohexyl)-benzeneacetamide, (trans)-Isomer; Animals; Brain; Ischemic Attack, Transient; Male; Optic Chiasm; Pyrrolidines; Rabbits; Receptors, Opioid, kappa

Transient ischemia produced marked memory dysfunctions in mice on three different tasks, spontaneous alternation, elevated plus-maze and passive avoidance, as tested 1, 1-2, and 2-3 days after ischemic insult, respectively. U-50,488H, a kappa-opioid receptor agonist, administered 20 min before ischemic insult markedly prevented the impairment of spontaneous alternation, the prolongation of transfer latency in elevated-plus maze and the shortening of step-through latency in passive avoidance induced by transient ischemia. The protective effect of U-50,488H (30 mg/kg) on ischemia-induced memory dysfunctions observed in the three tasks was almost completely reversed by pretreatment with nor-binaltorphimine (4 micrograms, i.c.v.), a kappa-selective opioid antagonist. Although U-50,488H (30 mg/kg) did not affect body temperature in sham mice, it blocked hypothermia induced by ischemic insult. These results suggest that the protective effect of U-50,488H on memory dysfunctions in ischemic mice is associated with the activation of kappa-opioid receptors and is not based upon hypothermia.

Topics: 3,4-Dichloro-N-methyl-N-(2-(1-pyrrolidinyl)-cyclohexyl)-benzeneacetamide, (trans)-Isomer; Amnesia; Analgesics; Animals; Avoidance Learning; Body Temperature; Drug Interactions; Ischemic Attack, Transient; Learning; Male; Memory; Mice; Mice, Inbred Strains; Naltrexone; Pyrrolidines; Receptors, Opioid, kappa; Reperfusion; Time Factors

U-50,488E is a novel analgesic agent with a specific agonist property on the kappa opioid receptor. It is found to protect against the lethal effect of temporary bilateral carotid occlusion (BCO) in Mongolian gerbils and rats of the Fischer strain. Pretreatment with U-50,488E in gerbils before 7 min of BCO reduced the development of behavioral hyperactivity and preserved the hippocampal neurons from ischemic death. This protective effect of U-50,488E resided predominantly in the levo-enantiomer which is also more potent as a kappa analgesic. Two other kappa opioid analgesics, ethylketocyclazocine and bremazocine, shared the effects of U-50,488E in the gerbils. Naloxone and dynorphin 1-13, on the other hand, were without protective effects in the same ischemic model. The ischemic protective effects of U-50,488E may involve the kappa opioid receptor.

Topics: 3,4-Dichloro-N-methyl-N-(2-(1-pyrrolidinyl)-cyclohexyl)-benzeneacetamide, (trans)-Isomer; Animals; Carotid Arteries; Exploratory Behavior; Female; Gerbillinae; Hyperkinesis; Ischemic Attack, Transient; Male; Pyrrolidines; Rats; Rats, Inbred F344; Receptors, Opioid; Receptors, Opioid, kappa; Time Factors