Reboxetine: a pharmacologically potent, selective, and specific norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor.

Background: Reboxetine is a potent antidepressant, with efficacy comparable to that of imipramine, desipramine, and fluoxetine, and has improved side-effect profile. The basis of its efficacy and improved tolerability is sought through studies of reboxetine in a number of pharmacological models of depression.

Methods: Pharmacological selectivity for uptake systems was defined by uptake and binding assays for the three monoamine uptake sites.

Sodium channel activity and sigma binding of 2-aminopropanamide anticonvulsants.

Sodium channel blocking, anticonvulsant activity, and sigma (sigma) binding of selected leads in a series of alpha-amino amide anticonvulsants were examined. While anticonvulsant compounds were always endowed with low micromolar sodium (Na+) channel site-2 binding, compounds with low site-2 Na+ channel affinity failed to control seizures. No correlation could be drawn with sigma1 binding.

Synthesis and preliminary biological evaluation of new alpha-amino amide anticonvulsants incorporating a dextromethorphan moiety.

Dextromethorphan 1 is an effective neuroprotectant in animal models of epilepsy and ischemia but showed side-effects during clinical trials limiting its potential use in a clinical setting. Here we describe the enantioselective and enantiospecific syntheses and the initial in vitro and in vivo biological evaluation of new hybrid structures between 1 and a previously disclosed alpha-amino amide anticonvulsant (3).

Preclinical evaluation of PNU-151774E as a novel anticonvulsant.

PNU-151774E [(S)-(+)-2-(4-(3-fluorobenzyloxy) benzylamino) propanamide, methanesulfonate] is a structurally novel anticonvulsant having Na+ channel-blocking and glutamate release-inhibiting properties, as well as being a MAOB inhibitor. Its anticonvulsant activity was evaluated in the maximal electroshock (MES) test and in chemically induced seizures (bicuculline, BIC; picrotoxin, PIC; 3-mercaptopropionic acid, 3-MPA; pentylenetetrazole, PTZ; strychnine, STRYC). Behavioral toxicity was evaluated in the rotorod test with measurements of spontaneous locomotor activity and passive avoidance responding.

Synthesis and anticonvulsant activity of a new class of 2-[(arylalky)amino]alkanamide derivatives.

Although most epilepsies are adequately treated by conventional antiepileptic therapy, there remains an unfulfilled need for safer and more effective anticonvulsant agents. Starting from milacemide, a weak anticonvulsant, and trying to elucidate its mechanism of action, we discovered a structurally novel class of potent and preclinically safe anticonvulsants. Here we report the structure-activity relationship (SAR) study within this series of compounds.

Is the oxidation of milacemide by monoamine oxidase a major factor in its anticonvulsant actions?

The anticonvulsant drug milacemide (2-n-pentylaminoacetamide) is known to be oxidized by monoamine oxidase-B to yield glycinamide which then breaks-down to give glycine. It has been postulated that it is this liberation of glycine in the brain that accounts for the anticonvulsant effects. In order to test this hypothesis, and since amines bearing a methyl-group in the alpha-position have been shown to be resistant to oxidation by monoamine oxidase, the effects of milacemide were compared with those of alpha-methyl-milacemide.

Synthesis and anticonvulsant activity of some benzopyranone imino derivatives of GABA and related compounds.

The synthesis of some 5-hydroxy-4-imino-2,3-dihydrobenzopyran derivatives of GABA and alkylamines is described. The products were tested for their GABA-receptor binding and anticonvulsant activity in mice. Some compounds showed anticonvulsant activity.

Synthesis and anticonvulsant and sedative-hypnotic activity of 4-(alkylimino)-2,3-dihydro-4H-1-benzopyrans and -benzothiopyrans.

A series of 4-(alkylimino)-5-hydroxy-7-alkyl-2,3-dihydro-4H-1-benzopyrans and -thiopyrans were synthesized and evaluated for anticonvulsant activity. Preliminary screening of these compounds revealed that 2,2-dimethyl-4-[(2-hydroxyalkyl)imino]-5-hydroxy-7-pentyl-2,3- dihydro-4H-1-benzopyrans 19 and 29, the 7-butyl analogue 34, and the corresponding 7-pentyl-4H-1-benzothiopyrans 38 and 39 had the most promising anticonvulsant activity. Synthesis of both enantiomers of 29 and 39 indicated that the R isomers 30 and 40 were the most active and showed very good protection against MES, pentylenetetrazole, and mercaptopropionic acid induced seizures after oral administration in mice.

MAO activity, metabolism and anticonvulsant activity of milacemide in rats and mice.

Milacemide was found to protect Swiss albino CD1 mice but not Sprague Dawley rats against bicuculline-induced lethality. Since it had been previously suggested that the anticonvulsant activity of milacemide might be related to MAO-B- mediated glycine formation, brain and liver MAO-A and-B activities and the urinary metabolic pattern of milacemide were determined in the same mice and rat strains. Similar brain and liver MAO activities were found in the two species, except for liver MAO-A activity which was higher in rats.

Antihypertensive ergoline derivatives.

Novel ergolines were synthesized and screened in spontaneous hypertensive rats (SHR) with the aim of finding a new class of ergot related antihypertensives. Their prolactin inhibitory effect (measured as nidation inhibition in rats), acute toxicity (LD50) and interference with CNS function (Irwin test) were also evaluated as a measure of selectivity and safety. Modification of the C8 side-chain enhanced antihypertensive activity selectively, while the introduction of substituents in other positions of the ergoline skeleton generally yielded unfavourable results, either by decreasing selectivity or by increasing toxicity.