Drug – bio-affecting and body treating compositions – Designated organic active ingredient containing – Nitrogen containing other than solely as a nitrogen in an...
Reexamination Certificate
1998-11-04
2001-04-03
Raymond, Richard L. (Department: 1624)
Drug, bio-affecting and body treating compositions
Designated organic active ingredient containing
Nitrogen containing other than solely as a nitrogen in an...
C514S654000, C564S355000, C564S360000, C564S361000, C564S363000, C564S379000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06211245
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to compounds useful as neuroprotectants, anticonvulsants, anxiolytics, analgesics, muscle relaxants or adjuvants to general anesthetics. The invention relates as well to methods useful for the treatment of neurological disorders and diseases, including, but not limited to, global and focal ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, head trauma, spinal cord injury, hypoxia-induced nerve cell damage such as in cardiac arrest or neonatal distress. epilepsy, anxiety, and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease, Huntington's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The invention relates as well to methods of screening for compounds active at a novel site on receptor-operated calcium channels, and thereby possessing therapeutic utility as neuroprotectants, anticonvulsants, anxiolytics, analgesics, muscle relaxants or adjuvants to general anesthetics, and/or possessing potential therapeutic utility of the treatment of neurological disorders and diseases as described above.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The following is a description of relevant art, none of which is admitted to be prior art to the claims.
Glutamate is the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the mammalian brain. Glutamate binds or interacts with one or more glutamate receptors which can be differentiated pharmacologically into several subtypes. In the mammalian central nervous system (CNS) there are three main subtypes of ionotropic glutamate receptors, defined pharmacologically by the selective agonists N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA), kainate (KA), and &agr;-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-propionic acid (AMPA). The NMDA receptor has been implicated in a variety of neurological pathologies including stroke, head trauma, spinal cord injury, epilepsy, anxiety, and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease (Watkins and Collingridge,
The NMDA Receptor
, Oxford: IRL Press, 1989). A role for NMDA receptors in nociception and analgesia has been postulated as well (Dickenson, A cure for wind-up: NMDA receptor antagonists as potential analgesics.
Trends Pharmacol. Sci.
11: 307, 1990). More recently, AMPA receptors have been widely studied for their possible contributions to such neurological pathologies (Fisher and Bogousslavsky, Evolving toward effective therapy for acute ischemic stroke.
J. Amer. Med. Assoc.
270: 360, 1993; Yamaguchi et al., Anticonvulsant activity of AMPA/kainate antagonists: Comparison of GYKI 52466 and NBQX in maximal electroshock and chemoconvulsant seizure models.
Epilepsy Res.
15: 179, 1993).
When activated by glutamate, the endogenous neurotransmitter, the NMDA receptor permits the influx of extracellular calcium (Ca
2+
) and sodium (Na
+
) through an associated ion channel. The NMDA receptor allows considerably more influx of Ca
2+
than do kainate or AMPA receptors (but see below), and is an example of a receptor-operated Ca
2+
channel. Normally, the channel is opened only briefly, allowing a localized and transient increase in the concentration of intracellular Ca
2+
([Ca
2+
]
i
), which, in turn, alters the functional activity of the cell. However, prolonged increases in [Ca
2+
]
i
, resulting from chronic stimulation of the NMDA receptor, are toxic to the cell and lead to cell death. The chronic elevation in [Ca
2+
]
i
, resulting from stimulation of NMDA receptors, is said to be a primary cause of neuronal degeneration following a stroke (Choi, Glutamate neurotoxicity and diseases of the nervous system.
Neuron
1: 623, 1988). Overstimulation of NMDA receptors is also said to be involved in the pathogenesis of some forms of epilepsy (Dingledine et al., Excitatory amino acid receptors in epilepsy.
Trends Pharmacol. Sci.
11: 334, 1990), anxiety (Wiley and Balster, Preclinical evaluation of N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonists of antianxiety effects: A review. In:
Multiple Sigma and PCP Receptor Ligands: Mechanisms for Neuromodulation and Neuroprotection
? NPP Books, Ann Arbor, Mich., pp. 801-815, 1992), neurodegenerative diseases (Meldrum and Garthwaite, Excitatory amino acid neurotoxicity and neurodegenerative disease.
Trends Pharmacol. Sci.
11: 379, 1990), and hyperalgesic states (Dickenson, A cure for wind-up: NMDA receptor antagonists as potential analgesics.
Trends Pharmacol. Sci.
11: 307, 1990).
The activity of the NMDA receptor-ionophore complex is regulated by a variety of modulatory sites that can be targeted by selective antagonists. Competitive antagonists, such as the phosphonate AP5, act at the glutamate binding site, whereas noncompetitive antagonists, such as phencyclidine (PCP), MK-801 or magnesium (Mg
2+
), act within the associated ion channel (ionophore). There is also a glycine binding site that can be blocked selectively with compounds such as 7-chlorokynurenic acid. There is evidence suggesting that glycine acts as a co-agonist, so that both glutamate and glycine are necessary to fully elicit NMDA receptor-mediated responses. Other potential sites for modulation of NMDA receptor function include a zinc (Zn
2+
) binding site and a sigma ligand binding site. Additionally, endogenous polyamines such as spermine are believed to bind to a specific site and so potentiate NMDA receptor function (Ransom and Stec, Cooperative modulation of [
3
H]MK-801 binding to the NMDA receptor-ion channel complex by glutamate, glycine and polyamines.
J. Neurochem.
51: 830, 1988). the potentiating effect of polyamines on NMDA receptor function may be mediated via a specific receptor site for polyamines; polyamines demonstrating agonist, antagonist, and inverse agonist activity have been described (Reynolds, Arcaine is a competitive antagonist of the polyamine site on the NMDA receptor.
Europ. J. Pharmacol.
177: 215, 1990; Williams et al., characterization of polyamines having agonist, antagonist, and inverse agonist effects at the polyamine recognition site of the NMDA receptor.
Neuron
5: 199, 1990). Radioligand binding studies have demonstrated additionally that higher concentrations of polyamines inhibit NMDA receptor function (Reynolds and Miller, Ifenprodil is a novel type of NMDA receptor antagonist: Interaction with polyamines.
Molec. Pharmacol.
36: 758, 1989; Williams et al., Effects of polyamines on the binding of [
3
H] MK-801 to the NMDA receptor: Pharmacological evidence for the existence of a polyamine recognition site.
Molec. Pharmacol.
36: 575, 1989; Sacaan and Johnson, Characterization of the stimulatory and inhibitory effects of polyamines on [
3
H] TCP binding to the NMDA receptor-ionophore complex.
Molec. Pharmacol.
37: 572, 1990). This inhibitory effect of polyamines on NMDA receptors is probably a nonspecific effect (i.e., not mediated via the polyamine receptor) because patch clamp electro-physiological studies have demonstrated that this inhibition is produced by compounds previously shown to act at the polyamine receptor as either agonists or antagonists (Donevan et al., Arcaine Blocks N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor Responses by an Open Channel Mechanism: Whole-Cell and Single-Channel Recording Studies in Cultured Hippocampal Neurons.
Molec. Pharmacol.
41: 727, 1992; Rock and Macdonald, Spermine and Related Polyamines Produce a Voltage-Dependent Reduction of NMDA Receptor Single-Channel Conductance.
Molec. Pharmacol.
42: 157, 1992).
Recent studies have demonstrated the molecular diversity of glutamate receptors (reviewed by Nakanishi, Molecular Diversity of Glutamate Receptors and Implications for Brain Function.
Science
258: 597, 1992). At least five distinct NMDA receptor subunits (NMDAR1 and NMDAR2A through NMDAR2D), each encoded by a distinct gene, have been identified to date. Also, in NMDAR1, alternative splicing gives rise to at least six additional isoforms. It appears that NMDAR1 is a necessary subunit, and that combination of NMDAR1 with different members of NMDAR2 forms the fully functional NMDA receptor-iono
Moe Scott T.
Mueller Alan L.
NPS Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Raymond Richard L.
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