Trophic action of pharmacological substances with a guanidine group on mouse neuroblastoma cells and chick ganglionic neurons in culture.

A series of substances (designated CTQ compounds) with a guanidine group have been synthesized and tested for their ability to promote neuronal survival and neurite outgrowth. Mouse neuroblastoma clonal cell lines grown in serum-containing medium for 10 days as well as primary cultures of embryonic chicken ganglion neurons grown in serum-free defined medium for 1 or 2 days have been used for the experiments. Among the various CTQ compounds (CTQ1-CTQ20) tested, only CTQ8 exerted positive neurotrophic effects on these peripheral neuronal cells.

Increased axonal regrowth of lesioned rat sciatic nerve by veratrylguanidine methane sulfonate.

Neurotrophic factors appear as essential factors for normal development and repair of the nervous tissue. Veratrylguanidine methane sulfonate, has been shown to induce important neurite outgrowth of cultured dorsal root ganglia isolated from newborn rats. Its action was similar to that of NGF and was found to be additive to that of NGF.

Neurite outgrowth of neurons of rat dorsal root ganglia induced by new neurotrophic substances with guanidine group.

In order to search for compounds mimicking the neurotrophic activities, a series of substances possessing the guanidine group of isaxonine (2-isopropylamino-pyrimidine), were synthesized and tested for their ability to induce neurite outgrowth in cultures of explants of rat dorsal root ganglia. It is reported that several of these compounds, at concentrations ranging from 10(-5) to 10(-7) M, showed important effects on neurite outgrowth in vitro, similar to that obtained with the nerve growth factor NGF. These effects were found to be additive to that of NGF.