Drug – bio-affecting and body treating compositions – Designated organic active ingredient containing – Radical -xh acid – or anhydride – acid halide or salt thereof...
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-11
2003-04-01
Ponnaluri, Padmashri (Department: 1627)
Drug, bio-affecting and body treating compositions
Designated organic active ingredient containing
Radical -xh acid, or anhydride, acid halide or salt thereof...
C514S810000, C514S811000, C514S812000, C514S813000, C514S291000, C514S304000, C514S332000, C514S343000, C514S357000, C514S640000, C514S641000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06541520
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the use of an irreversible inhibitor of GABA-transaminase for the treatment of substance addiction and modification of behavior associated with substance addiction. Substance addiction, such as drug abuse, and the resulting addiction-related behavior are enormous social and economic problems that continue to grow with devastating consequences.
Substance addiction can occur by use of legal and illegal substances. Nicotine, cocaine, amphetamine, methamphetamine, ethanol, heroin, morphine and other addictive substances are readily available and routinely used by large segments of the United States population.
Many drugs of abuse are naturally occurring. For example, cocaine is a naturally occurring nonamphetamine stimulant derived from the leaves of the coca plant,
Erythroylon coca
. Coca leaves contain only about one-half of one percent pure cocaine alkaloid. When chewed, only relatively modest amounts of cocaine are liberated, and gastrointestinal absorption is slow. Certainly, this explains why the practice of chewing coca leaves has never been a public health problem in Latin America. The situation changes sharply with the abuse of the alkaloid itself.
It has been found that addicting drugs such as nicotine, cocaine, amphetamine, methamphetamine, ethanol, heroin, and morphine enhance (in some cases directly, in other cases indirectly or even trans-synaptically) dopamine (DA) within the mesotelencephalic reward/reinforcement circuitry of the forebrain, presumably producing the enhanced brain reward that constitutes the drug user's “high.” Alterations in the function of these DA systems have also been implicated in drug craving and in relapse to the drug-taking habit in recovering addicts. For example, cocaine acts on these DA systems by binding to the dopamine transporter (DAT) and preventing DA reuptake into the presynaptic terminal.
There is considerable evidence that nicotine, cocaine, amphetamine, methamphetamine, ethanol, heroin, morphine and other abused drugs' addictive liability is linked to reuptake blockade in central nervous system (CNS) reward/reinforcement pathways. For example, cocaine-induced increases in extracellular DA have been linked to its rewarding and craving effects in rodents. In humans, the pharmacokinetics binding profile of
11
C-cocaine indicates that the uptake of labeled cocaine is directly correlated with the self-reported “high”. In addition, human cocaine addicts exposed to cocaine-associated environmental cues experienced increased cocaine craving which is antagonized by the DA receptor antagonist haloperidol. Based upon the presumptive link between cocaine's addictive liability and the DA reward/reinforcement circuitry of the forebrain, many pharmacologic strategies for treating cocaine addiction have been proposed.
In the past, one treatment strategy was to target directly the DAT with a high-affinity cocaine analog, thereby blocking cocaine's binding. Another treatment strategy was to modulate synaptic DA directly by the use of DA agonists or antagonists. Yet another treatment strategy was to modulate synaptic DA, indirectly or trans-synaptically, by specifically targeting a functionally-linked but biochemically different neurotransmitter system.
A number of drugs have been suggested for use in weaning cocaine users from their dependency. Certain therapeutic agents were favored by the “dopamine depletion hypothesis.” It is well established that cocaine blocks dopamine reuptake, acutely increasing synaptic dopamine concentrations. However, in the presence of cocaine, synaptic dopamine is metabolized as 3-methoxytyramine and excreted. The synaptic loss of dopamine places demands on the body for increased dopamine synthesis, as evidenced by the increase in tyrosine hydroxylase activity after cocaine administration. When the precursor supplies are exhausted, a dopamine deficiency develops. This hypothesis led to the testing of bromocriptine, a dopamine receptor agonist. Another approach was the administration of amantadine, a dopamine releaser. Yet another approach, also based on the dopamine depletion hypothesis, was to provide a precursor for dopamine, such as L-dopa.
Agonists are not preferred therapeutic agents. A given agonist may act on several receptors, or similar receptors on different cells, not just on the particular receptor or cell one desires to stimulate. As tolerance to a drug develops (through changes in the number of receptors and their affinity for the drug), tolerance to the agonist may likewise develop. A particular problem with the agonist bromocriptine, for example, is that it may itself create a drug dependency. Thus, treatment strategies used in the past did not relieve the patient's craving for cocaine. Moreover, by using certain agonists such as bromocriptine, a patient was likely to replace one craving for another.
Another drug that is frequently abused is nicotine. The alkaloid (−)-nicotine is present in cigarettes and other tobacco products that are smoked or chewed. It has been found that nicotine contributes to various diseases, including cancer, heart disease, respiratory disease and other conditions, for which tobacco use is a risk factor, particularly heart disease.
Vigorous campaigns against the use of tobacco or nicotine have taken place, and it is now common knowledge that the cessation of tobacco use brings with it numerous unpleasant withdrawal symptoms, which include irritability, anxiety, restlessness, lack of concentration, lightheadedness, insomnia, tremor, increased hunger and weight gain, and, of course, an intense craving for tobacco.
The addictive liability of nicotine has been linked to the rewarding/reinforcing actions and its effects on DA neurons in the reward pathways of the brain (Nisell et al., 1995; Pontieri, et al., 1996). For example, the acute systemic administration of nicotine, as well as numerous other drugs of abuse, produces an increase in extracellular DA levels in the nucleus accumbens (NACC), an important component of the reward system (Damsma et al., 1989; Di Chiara and Imperato, 1988; Imperato et al., 1986; Nisell et al., 1994a, 1995; Pontieri et al., 1996). Similarly, the infusion of nicotine into the ventral segmental area (VTA) of the rodent produces a significant increase in DA levels in the NACC (Nisell et al., 1994b).
A few pharmaceutical agents have been reported as useful to treat nicotine dependence, including nicotine substitution therapy such as nicotine gum, transdermal nicotine patches, nasal sprays, nicotine inhalers and bupropion, the first nonnicotinic treatment for smoking cessation (Henningfield, 1995; Hurt, et al., 1997).
Unfortunately, nicotine substitution therapy involves the administration of the nicotine which frequently leads to nicotine withdrawal and subsequent relapse to use of tobacco products. Thus, there is a need for a therapy having a desirable side effect profile, to relieve nicotine withdrawal symptoms, including the long term cravings for nicotine.
Other well known addictive substances are narcotic analgesics such as morphine, heroin and other opioids both natural and semisynthetic. Abuse of opioids induce tolerance and dependence. Withdrawal symptoms from the cessation of opioids use vary greatly in intensity depending on numerous factors including the dose of the opioid used, the degree to which the opioid effects on the CNS are continuously exerted, the duration of chronic use, and the rate at which the opioid is removed from the receptors. These withdrawal symptoms include craving, anxiety, dysphoria, yawning, perspiration, lacrimation, rhinorrhoea, restless and broken sleep, irritability, dilated pupils, aching of bones, back and muscles, piloerection, hot and cold flashes, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, weight loss, fever, increased blood pressure, pulse and respiratory rate, twitching of muscles and kicking movements of the lower extremities.
Medical complications associated with injection of opioids include a variety of pathological changes in the CN
Ashby, Jr. Charles R.
Brodie Jonathan D.
Dewey Stephen L.
Bogosian Margaret C.
Brookhaven Science Associates
Ponnaluri Padmashri
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