Inhibitor Report for: Aprophen

Acetylcholinesterases, butyrylcholinesterases, and carboxylesterases appear to form kinetically a homologous enzyme series with respect to many substrates and inhibitors. The present paper evaluates the interaction of aprophen with acetylcholinesterases, butyrylcholinesterases, and carboxylesterases with respect to protecting the enzyme from organophosphate and carbamate inhibition, accelerating pralidoxime iodide (2-PAM) regeneration of the diisopropylphospho-enzyme, and comparing the inhibition and regeneration kinetics of a soluble mammalian acetylcholinesterase with that of bovine erythrocyte acetylcholinesterase. The irreversible inhibition kinetics of diisopropyl fluorophosphate (DFP) and eserine inhibition of fetal bovine serum acetylcholinesterase were typical of other acetylcholinesterases as indicated by the bimolecular inhibition rate constants, ki, of 7.7 +/- 1.3 X 10(4) M-1 min-1 and 2.9 +/- 1.7 X 10(6) M-1 min-1, respectively. Similarly, the bimolecular regeneration rate constant, kr, for 2-PAM regeneration of the diisopropylphospho-acetylcholinesterase was 14.7 M-1 min-1. The bimolecular rate constants, ki and kr, were not statistically perturbed when the reaction was monitored in the presence of aprophen with the fetal bovine serum acetylcholinesterase. Human serum butyrylcholinesterase was partially protected from DFP inhibition by aprophen with no detectable change in the bimolecular inhibition rate constant, ki. The regeneration of the diisopropylphospho-butyrylcholinesterase by 2-PAM was accelerated in the presence of aprophen by a factor of 2.7 over that of 2-PAM alone (8.4 +/- 2.2 M-1 min-1 to 23.1 +/- 2.6 M-1 min-1 respectively). Neither the inhibition (DFP) nor the regeneration (2-PAM) kinetics observed for the carboxylesterase was perturbed by the presence of aprophen.

Aprophen, alpha-methyl-alpha-phenylbenzeneacetic acid-2-(diethylamino) ethyl ester, is a potent reversible inhibitor and a poor substrate of human serum butyrylcholinesterase (BCHE). Complex mixed competitive noncompetitive inhibition kinetics were observed; an apparent competitive inhibition constant was estimated to be 3.7 X 10(-7) M. BCHE hydrolysis of aprophen to diphenylpropionic acid and diethylaminoethanol did not appear to follow Michaelis-Menten kinetics. The BCHE turnover number for aprophen was 2.0 X 10(-3) sec-1. Rabbit liver oligomeric and monomeric carboxylesterases (CE) also hydrolyzed aprophen with a similar turnover number that varied from 1.4 X 10(-3) sec-1 to 4.3 X 10(-4) sec-1 respectively. Comparison of the catalytic rate of aprophen hydrolysis with butyrylthiocholine (BTC) and the neutral aromatic substrate, phenylthiobutyrate (phi TB), indicated that BCHE hydrolyzed BTC and phi TB 3.2 X 10(5) and 3.1 X 10(5) times more rapidly than aprophen respectively. Similarly, the CEs also hydrolyzed BTC and phi TB 17.6 and 1.9 X 10(5) times rapidly than aprophen. Acetylcholinesterases from bovine erythrocyte and electric eel were not inhibited by aprophen nor was aprophen hydrolyzed by these enzymes. The hydrolysis and inhibition reactions may best be described by a complex reaction scheme involving multiple binding sites for both the substrate and the inhibitor as well as positive cooperative ligand binding.

Radioligand assay showed that the cholinesterase (ChE) reactivators dipiroxime and benzyxime, but not carboxime, modulate selective absorption of some cholinolytics (tributam, pediphen, aprophen) in rat brain. Significant suppression of the specific binding of muscarine antagonists was recorded after chlorophos (2.LD50) intoxication. Under such conditions, the ChE reactivators induce increase in the number of binding sites and in the parameters of the constant of cholinolytic absorption on the brain membranes. It was also established by equilibrium dialysis that the binding of cholinolytics in blood plasma under the effect of ChE reactivators is reduced, leading to redistribution of their free and bound fractures, which is most favorable for tissue sorption.

Working and reference memory processes were simultaneously evaluated during the performance of a paired discrimination (PD) task in which visual and spatial discrimination trials were combined within the same session. Atropine (1 and 5 mg/kg), scopolamine (0.02-0.20 mg/kg), benactyzine (1-4 mg/kg), trihexyphenidyl (1-10 mg/kg), and aprophen (5-20 mg/kg) were all found to increase the number of errors performed by overtrained rats during the spatial but not during the visual trials. Although all the anticholinergic drugs tested induced specific working memory impairment at low doses, they differentially affected other, simultaneously recorded, behavioral parameters. Thus, while atropine affected most of the recorded parameters, aprophen induced only a mild effect. Benactyzine was found to have the most specific effect on working memory, with only minimal side effects, a combination that supports its use as the preferred psychopharmacological model of working memory impairment.

Drugs that act at the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor complex have the ability to terminate nerve agent-induced seizures and modulate the neuropathologic consequences of agent exposure. Drugs with mixed anticholinergic and anti-NMDA properties potentially provide an ideal class of compounds for development as anticonvulsant treatments for nerve agent casualties. The present experiment evaluated the potential NMDA antagonist activity of 11 anticholinergic drugs by determining whether pretreatment with the compound was capable of protecting mice from the lethal effects of NMDA. The following anticholinergic drugs antagonized NMDA lethality and are ranked according to their potency: mecamylamine > procyclidine = benactyzine > biperiden > trihexyphenidyl. The anticholinergics atropine, aprophen, azaprophen, benztropine, 3-quinuclidinyl benzilate (QNB), and scopolamine failed to show NMDA antagonist properties. In addition, and unexpectedly, diazepam, ethanol, and pentobarbital were also shown to be capable of antagonizing NMDA lethality over a certain range of doses. The advantages and limitations of using antagonism of NMDA lethality in mice as a bioassay for determining the NMDA antagonist properties of drugs are also discussed.

The preparation of 2-[N-(ethyl)-(N-beta-hydroxyethyl)]amino-ethyl 2,2-diphenylpropionate (1), a metabolite of aprophen [2-diethylaminoethyl 2,2-diphenylpropionate], is described. Hydrolysis of [2-(2-chloroethyl)ethylamino]ethyl acetate hydrochloride (2) in a basic solution, followed by acidic pH adjustment, gave the ethylcholineaziridinium ion (3) that upon treatment with 2,2-diphenylpropionic acid produced 1 in a 56% yield. Synthetic 1 was found to possess antimuscarinic activities, but was approximately 10-fold less potent than the parent compound aprophen.

C20H28NS+.Cl-, 2-(diethylamino)ethyl 1,1-diphenylethyl sulfide hydrochloride (thiodeacylaprophen hydrochloride), M(r) = 349.9, orthorhombic, P2(1)2(1)2(1), a = 8.933 (2), b = 11.710 (3), c = 18.934 (4) A, V = 1980.6 (7) A3, Z = 4, Dx = 1.173 g cm-3, Cu K alpha, lambda = 1.54178 A, mu = 26.70 cm-1, F(000) = 752, room temperature, final R = 4.1% for 1417 reflections with /Fo/ greater than 3 sigma (F). Thiodeacylaprophen crystallized as a tertiary amine hydrochloride salt. The S--C--C--N+ segment adopts a trans configuration as does one of the Cphenyl--C--S--C segments. A comparison of the structure of thiodeacylaprophen with the crystal structures of potent antimuscarinic agents suggests that the relatively weak antimuscarinic activity of thiodeacylaprophen compared to atropine and aprophen may be substantially due to the short intramolecular S...N+ distance of 4.106 (6) A. Other contributing structural factors may include the direction of the N+--H bond and restricted accessibility of the sulfur atom for interatomic interactions.

A series of aprophen [(N,N-diethylamino)ethyl 2,2-diphenylpropionate] analogues, called cylexphenes, were synthesized with alterations in (1) the chain length of the amine portion of the ester, (2) the alkyl groups on the amino alcohol, and (3) a cyclohexyl group replacing one of the phenyl rings. The antimuscarinic activities of these analogues were assessed in two pharmacological assays: the inhibition of acetylcholine-induced contraction of guinea pig ileum, and the blocking of carbachol-stimulated release of alpha-amylase from rat pancreatic acinar cells. These two tissues represent the M3(ileum) and M3(pancreas) muscarinic receptor subtypes. In addition, the analogues were also evaluated for their competitive inhibition of the binding of [3H]NMS to selected cell membranes, each containing only one of the m1, M2, m3, or M4 muscarinic receptor subtypes. The m1 and m3 receptors were stably transfected into A9 L cells. The replacement of one phenyl group of aprophen with a cyclohexyl group increased the selectivity of all the analogues for the pancreatic acinar muscarinic receptor subtype over the ileum subtype by more than 10-fold, with the (N,N-dimethylamino)propyl analogue exhibiting the greatest selectivity for the pancreas receptor subtype, over 30-fold. The cylexphenes also showed a decrease in potency in comparison to the parent compound when examined for the binding of [3H]NMS to the M2 subtype. In agreement with the pharmacological data obtained from the pancreas, the (N,N-dimethylamino)propyl cylexphene 3 demonstrated the greatest selectivity for the m3 subtype, and additionally showed a preference for the m1 and M4 receptor subtypes over the M2 receptor subtype in the binding assay. Thus, this compound showed a potent selectivity according to the pharmacological and binding assays between the muscarinic receptor subtypes of the pancreas and ileum. In both the pharmacological and binding assays, the potency of the analogues decreased markedly when the chain length and the bond distance between the carbonyl oxygen and protonated nitrogen were increased beyond three methylene groups. When the structures of these analogues were analyzed using a molecular modeling program, the bond distance between the carbonyl oxygen and protonated nitrogen was deduced to be more important for the antagonist activity than subtype specificity.

Chemical pretreatment is effective against a 2 LD50 challenge of soman, sarin or VX or a 5 LD50 challenge of tabun. Chemical pretreatment followed by post challenge therapy should be effective against greater levels of agent. Such tests in guinea pigs are reported here; pretreatment regimens (PRGs) consisted of physostigmine (0.15 mg/kg, im) and an adjunct. The adjuncts [mg/kg, im] used were aprophen [8], atropine (AT)[16], azaprophen (AZA)[5], benactyzine [1.25], benztropine (BT) [4], scopolamine [0.08] and trihexyphenidyl [2]. Pretreatment was given 30 min before, and atropine (16 mg/kg, im) and 2-PAM (25 mg/kg, im) therapy (T) at one min after, 5 LD50s of agent. Results indicate that, all of the PRG+T regimens, except BT-not tested with T, prevent lethality by soman; trihexyphenidyl and scopolamine (the only adjuncts used therein) regimens each prevent lethality by sarin and VX. Against soman, all PRG+T regimens (vs PRG only) may shorten the median recovery time to 2 hrs or less. Even without therapy, the PRGs containing AT, AZA or BT prevent lethality by 5 LD50s of soman; however, used alone, only the PRG containing AZA reduces the incidence of convulsions at this level of soman.

The metabolism of the anticholinergic drug aprophen was studied in rats after oral administration via stomach intubation. beta-Hydroxyethylaprophen, a major urinary metabolite of aprophen, was isolated and identified by normal-phase high-performance liquid chromatography and electron ionization mass spectrometry. More than 22% of the parent drug was recovered and quantified over a 72-h collection period. Results show that 2,2-diphenylpropionic acid, another major metabolite of aprophen which lacks anticholinergic properties, was also isolated and identified in this study. Experiments are currently underway to synthesize and test the anticholinergic properties of beta-hydroxyethylaprophen in mammals.

The acute effects of the organophosphorus cholinesterase inhibitor soman include hypersecretions, convulsions, and death. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the anticholinergic compounds aprophen, atropine sulfate, azaprophen, benactyzine, benztropine, biperiden, scopolamine HBr, and trihexyphenidyl for their efficacy in preventing soman-induced hypersecretions and convulsions. Male rats were injected with the oxime HI-6 (125 mg/kg, i.p.), to increase survival time, along with various intramuscular doses of the anticholinergics 30 min prior to a dose of soman (180 micrograms/kg, s.c.; equivalent to 1.6 x the median lethal dose) that produced 100% convulsions. Signs of intoxication as well as the time-to-onset of convulsions were observed. The calculated anticonvulsant median effective dose values were 0.18, 0.33, 0.36, 0.55, 2.17, 2.30, 2.45, and 31.09 mumol/kg for scopolamine HBr, biperiden, trihexyphenidyl, benactyzine, benztropine, azaprophen, aprophen, and atropine sulfate, respectively. The same rank order of potency for inhibition of hypersecretions among these compounds was observed. Parallel studies with quaternary analogs of atropine sulfate and scopolamine HBr demonstrated, however, that these charged compounds afford no protection against soman-induced hypersecretions and convulsions. The results indicate that tertiary anticholinergic compounds afford protection against soman-induced convulsions and hypersecretions and that the beneficial anticonvulsant effects are mediated through the central cholinergic system. Excitatory amino acid neurotransmitter systems may be involved in the effectiveness of these compounds.

A pretreatment for organophosphorus (OP) anticholinesterase (e.g., soman) intoxication should prevent lethality and convulsions (CNV) at 2 LD50s and be behavioral-decrement-free when given alone. Behavioral-deficit-free pretreatment regimens (PRGs) for guinea pigs consisted of Physostigmine (0.15 mg/kg, im) and adjunct. Adjuncts [mg/kg, im] tested were akineton [0.25], aprophen [8], trihexyphenidyl [2], atropine [16], azaprophen [5], benactyzine [1.25], cogentin [4], dextromethorphan [7.5], ethopropazine [12], kemadrin [1], memantine [5], promethazine [5], scopolamine [0.08] and vontrol [2]. PRGs were given 30 min before soman (60 micrograms/kg, sc; 2 LD50s) or other OP agents. Animals were then observed and graded for signs of intoxication, including CNV at 7 time points and at 24 hr. Physostigmine alone reduced the incidence of CNV and lethality induced by 2 LD50s of soman by 42 and 60%, respectively. All of the PRGs tested abolished lethality and 12 shortened recovery time to 2 hr or less. Also, PRGs including azaprophen or atropine prevented CNV. When selected PRGs were tested against intoxication by sarin, tabun or VX, the efficacy was generally superior to that for soman. The data show that several PRGs are effective against soman intoxication in guinea pigs.

The M1-selective muscarinic antagonists aprophen, caramiphen, carbetapentane, 2-DAEX, dicyclomine, hexahydrosiladifenidol, iodocaramiphen, nitrocaramiphen, oxybutynin and trihexyphenidyl potently inhibited binding to sigma sites in brain. Both basic ester and non-ester structural type compounds which exhibit affinity for the muscarinic receptor also demonstrated affinity for the sigma site, while the classical antimuscarinic agents atropine and QNB, and the tricyclic pirenzepine, were ineffective in binding to this site. We also observed a significant correlation between the Ki values for sigma compounds to inhibit [3H]pirenzepine binding and their IC50 values to inhibit carbachol-stimulated phosphoinositide turnover. These observations may aid in elucidating the relationship of sigma binding to inhibition of phosphoinositide turnover stimulated by cholinergic agonists.

Atropine (AT) induces a dose-dependent increase in rate of rise of core temperature (heating rate) in sedentary heat-stressed rats, a muscarinic anticholinergic (MA) effect which is quantitatively similar to the increase in heating rate seen in heat-exposed men after equivalent atropine dose. In the heat-stressed rat, scopolamine (S) was found to have 16 x the MA effect of AT and, in the present study, aprophen (AP) and trihexyphenidyl (THP) manifested 0.067 x 0.061 x the MA effect of AT. In rats exercising on a treadmill (11 m/min, 6 degrees incline, 26 degrees C), physostigmine (PH) administration resulted in reduced endurance and increased heating rate, both of which were attenuated following AT administration-hypothesized to be a nicotinic anticholinergic (NA) effect. Optimum doses of anticholinergics to reverse the PH-induced decrements were: AT-200 micrograms/kg, S-8-16 micrograms/kg, AP-3000 micrograms/kg, and THP-800 micrograms/kg. These optimum NA doses for AT, S, and AP were the same as those predicted from their MA potency relative to AT in heat-stressed rats. However, it should be noted that 800 micrograms/kg of THP is only 1/4 of the expected 3200 micrograms/kg dose of THP based on MA equivalence to AT. Relative MA activities and optimum doses in PH-treated exercising rats appear to be due to differential MA and NA activities. Thus, a combination of both sedentary heat-stressed and exercising rat models may be useful in predicting relative cholinergic effects of new drugs with both MA and NA effects in man.

Exposure to high doses of organophosphorus nerve agents such as soman, even with carbamate pretreatment, produces a variety of toxic cholinergic signs, including secretions, convulsions and death. Evidence suggests that soman-induced convulsions may be associated with postexposure brain neuropathology. The purpose of this study was to investigate the pharmacologic mechanism of action of soman-induced convulsions and of anticonvulsant drugs. Various classes of compounds were evaluated for their efficacy in preventing soman-induced convulsions in rats pretreated with the oxime HI-6 to increase survival time, along with various doses of the test compounds (IM) either in the absence or presence of atropine sulfate (16 mg/kg, IM) 30 minutes prior to a soman challenge dose (180 micrograms/kg, SC; equivalent to 1.6 x LD50) that produced 100% convulsions. Without atropine sulfate, only tertiary anticholinergics (scopolamine, trihexyphenidyl, biperiden, benactyzine, benztropine, azaprophen and aprophen), caramiphen, carbetapentane and MK-801 were effective anticonvulsants. In the presence of atropine sulfate, the benzodiazepines (diazepam, midazolam, clonazepam, loprazolam and alprazolam), mecamylamine, flunarizine, diphenylhydantoin, clonidine, CGS 19755 and Organon 6370 studied were effective. We have examined the possibility that diazepam may exert some of its anticonvulsant effects through cholinergic mechanisms and found that a reduced release of ACh into synapses after diazepam and atropine treatment may account for diazepam's anticonvulsant activity against soman. We also found that at anticonvulsant doses biperiden and trihexyphenidyl each significantly reversed the effects of soman on striatal levels of DOPAC and HVA, the metabolites of dopamine, and have concluded that in addition to actions on muscarinic receptors, the anticonvulsant effects of these anticholinergics in soman poisoning may be partially related to their actions on the striatal dopaminergic system. These findings allow us to postulate that central muscarinic cholinergic mechanisms are primarily involved in eliciting the convulsions following exposure to soman and that subsequent recruitment of other excitatory neurotransmitter systems and loss of inhibitory control may be responsible for sustaining the convulsions and for producing the subsequent brain damage. Future studies to confirm these neuropharmacological mechanisms are proposed.

Since both diphenyl-substituted antimuscarinics and benzodiazepine anxiolytic drugs have been reported to increase responding under fixed-ratio schedules of food presentation, these antimuscarinics may also have anxiolytic activity. The effects of aprophen and benactyzine on punished responding of rats, a preclinical anxiolytic drug screen, were compared with those of atropine and chlordiazepoxide. None of the antimuscarinics produced consistent overall increases in behavior suppressed by punishment, in contrast to the dose-dependent increases obtained with chlordiazepoxide. Aprophen did not potentiate the anxiolytic activity of chlordiazepoxide. However, a high dose of atropine potentiated the effects of chlordiazepoxide on punished responding. Thus the diphenyl-substituted antimuscarinics, aprophen and benactyzine, do not possess consistent or robust anxiolytic activity in this preclinical screen. The previously reported behavioral excitatory effects of these compounds may therefore be unrelated to this pharmacological action.

Behavioral effects of aprophen, atropine and scopolamine, in rats, were examined under a multiple schedule of food presentation and at different injection-test times. The effects of the varied treatments were compared to the ability of the drugs, under identical conditions, to prevent the behavioral effects of the anticholinesterase, physostigmine. Potencies of the antagonists to decrease response rates varied across three log units. All three antagonists produced dose-related attenuation of the response suppressant effects of physostigmine. In general, aprophen was a better antagonist than scopolamine or atropine. It blocked behavioral effects of physostigmine across a wider range of doses than the other compounds, and did so with less behavioral disruption. Although substantial differences between the three antagonists were observed, the behavioral effects of all three antagonists (when administered alone) were positively correlated with their efficacy as antagonists of the response suppressant effects of physostigmine.

In 51 chronological prolonged pregnancies at 42 weeks gestation the preparation and induction was made usage of the Soviet spasmolytic preparation Aprophen. Aprophen blocks also N-cholinergic receptors in sympathetic ganglia. The tocolytic action of sympathetic system on uterine musculature was removed as well as its tonic alpha-adrenergic effect on the cervix. Thirty pregnant women were included in a control comparative group, in whom induction and preparation of labour activity was achieved by usage of corticosteroids-Prednisolone. The medication in both groups continued till beginning of labour activity, but in failure after 96 h till oxytocin indication. In 77% of women, treated with Aprophen, labour activity occurred before 96 h (40 out of 51 women but 50% of women treated with Predinisolone (15 out of 30 women)/p less than 0.02/. In 31% of women, treated with Aprophen, labour activity was induced by oxytocin stimulation (14 out of 40 women, but in 76% of women, treated with Predinisolone (10 out of 15 women)/p less than 0.05/. The high percentage of children delivered with signs of postmaturity according to Clifford in pregnant women treated with corticosteroid--23.3% against 9.8% of women treated with Aprophen (p less than 0.01) show the connection between the usage of corticosteroids and the increase of the frequency of signs of postmaturity in newborns.

A comparison of the crystalline structure of the potent azaprophen with the crystalline structures of aprophen and four other structurally related antimuscarinic agents reveals the potential for an ionic interaction of the cationic nitrogen atom and the carbonyl oxygen atom with the muscarinic receptor and an aromatic interaction with a phenyl group. 6-Methyl-6-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octan-3 alpha-ol 2,2-diphenylpropionate hydrochloride (azaprophen hydrochloride), C23H28NO2+.Cl-, Mr = 385.9, monoclinic, P2(1)/c, a = 8.490 (1), b = 14.335 (2), c = 16.847 (2) A, beta = 93.63 (1) degree, V = 2046.2 A3, Z = 4, Dx = 1.253 g cm-3, Cu K alpha, lambda = 1.54178 A, mu = 17.86 cm-1, F(000) = 824, room temperature, final R = 4.25% for 2460 reflections with [Fo[ greater than 3 sigma. 2-Diethylaminoethyl 2,2-diphenylpropionate hydrochloride (aprophen hydrochloride), C21H28NO2+.Cl-, Mr = 361.9, orthorhombic, Pbca, a = 15.118 (3), b = 7.488 (2), c = 36.306 (10) A, V = 4110.8 A3, Z = 8, Dx = 1.316 g cm-3, Cu K alpha, lambda = 1.54178 A, mu = 17.45 cm-1, F(000) = 1552, room temperature, final R = 7.96% for 1846 reflections with [Fo[ greater than 3 sigma. Both azaprophen and aprophen were crystallized as tertiary amine salts. The overall conformation of both molecules is similar as demonstrated by space-filling models and superimposed stick drawings. Although the interatomic distance between the nitrogen atom and the carbonyl oxygen atom of azaprophen and aprophen is comparable at 5.41 and 5.07 A, respectively, the nitrogen atoms of azaprophen and aprophen are 1.16 A apart when the acyloxy portion (--O--C = O) of both molecules is superimposed. A conformational analysis of azaprophen, aprophen and the structurally similar antimuscarinic agents reveals a buried ether oxygen atom and an exposed carbonyl oxygen atom as well as the common placement of a phenyl group on the same side of the acyloxy plane as the cationic nitrogen atom

People with genetic variants of cholinesterase respond abnormally to succinylcholine, experiencing substantial prolongation of muscle paralysis with apnea rather than the usual 2-6 min. The structure of usual cholinesterase has been determined including the complete amino acid and nucleotide sequence. This has allowed identification of altered amino acids and nucleotides. The variant most frequently found in patients who respond abnormally to succinylcholine is atypical cholinesterase, which occurs in homozygous form in 1 out of 3500 Caucasians. Atypical cholinesterase has a single substitution at nucleotide 209 which changes aspartic acid 70 to glycine. This suggests that Asp 70 is part of the anionic site, and that the absence of this negatively charged amino acid explains the reduced affinity of atypical cholinesterase for positively charged substrates and inhibitors. The clinical consequence of reduced affinity for succinylcholine is that none of the succinylcholine is hydrolyzed in blood and a large overdose reaches the nerve-muscle junction where it causes prolonged muscle paralysis. Silent cholinesterase has a frame shift mutation at glycine 117 which prematurely terminates protein synthesis and yields no active enzyme. The K variant, named in honor of W. Kalow, has threonine in place of alanine 539. The K variant is associated with 33% lower activity. All variants arise from a single locus as there is only one gene for human cholinesterase (EC 3.1.1.8). Comparison of amino acid sequences of esterases and proteases shows that cholinesterase belongs to a new family of serine esterases which is different from the serine proteases.

The development of selective irreversible ligands has proven to be an invaluable technique for the isolation, purification and characterization of many receptor proteins. An isothiocyanato-derivative of the muscarinic antagonist aprophen was synthesized and evaluated as a potential irreversible ligand for muscarinic receptors. This compound (aprophit) displaced [3H]N-methylscopolamine binding from rat cerebral cortex with a Ki of 3.1 x 10(-7) M. The inhibition was concentration-dependent and could not be reversed by extensive washing. Aprophit inhibited the acetylcholine-stimulated release of catecholamines from isolated, perfused guinea pig adrenal glands in a concentration-dependent manner. This inhibition was not reversed by perfusing the tissue with Locke's solution and was not due to a non-selective acylation by the isothiocyanate function. The data suggest that aprophit is selectively acylating muscarinic receptor proteins and thus may be useful in their further characterization.

Prophylaxis against organophosphate poisoning can be achieved by pretreatment with physostigmine or pyridostigmine, which are carbamates, and aprophen, which is an anticholinergic agent. Thus, a series of aprophen analogues was synthesized with carbamyl substitutions on the phenyl rings (carbaphens). The rationale behind this design is that such compounds might exhibit most of the therapeutic characteristics of aprophen, as well as the ability to protect prophylactically by chemically masking cholinesterase enzymes. Compounds 4 (dimethylhydroxycarbaphen), 15 (dimethylcarbaphen), and 16 (monomethylcarbaphen) were found to inactivate human butyrylcholinesterase in a time-dependent manner with potencies similar to those of physostigmine or pyridostigmine, and the latter two exhibited almost the same antimuscarinic profile as aprophen. In contrast to the potent inactivation of butyrylcholinesterase by these compounds, marginal inactivation of acetylcholinesterase activity was observed, and only at much higher drug concentrations. The noncarbamylated analogues had no effect on the activity of either cholinesterase. The carbaphen compounds are hence prototype drugs that can interact with either muscarinic receptors or butyrylcholinesterase. Furthermore, these compounds are prodrugs, since after carbamylation of the cholinesterase, the leaving group 14 (hydroxyaprophen) is a potent antimuscarinic itself.

The possible side effects of therapeutic drugs against organophosphate poisoning were investigated. First, dose-effect curves were obtained with atropine sulphate (AS), P2S, obidoxime, aprophen, N-methylatropine nitrate and HI-6. The first three drugs are currently used in the therapy of organophosphate poisoning, the others are potentially useful candidates. Automated tests measuring open field behavior, motor coordination and shuttlebox performance, as well as neurophysiological techniques such as the quantified EEG (qEEG) and visual evoked responses were used. The sign-free doses of these compounds were determined; it appeared that open field behavior and the qEEG were the most sensitive methods for these drugs. Subsequently, these two methods were used to investigate the effects of the combinations of AS and P2S, AS and obidoxime or AS and HI-6, each compound given in a sign-free dose. Synergistic or additive effects were found with the combination of AS and P2S, which were smaller with the combination of AS and obidoxime and absent with the combination of AS and HI-6. These results indicate that the untimely use (false alarm, panic) of the current drug combinations may cause undesirable side effects.

We investigated whether the inhibition of prolactin secretion from pituitary cells by carbachol, a cholinergic agonist resistant to hydrolysis by cholinesterases, would be a useful bioassay to explore an important nonneuronal action of antimuscarinic agents. Carbachol inhibited prolactin secretion from cultured rat anterior pituitary cells in a dose-dependent manner with a mean IC50 of 1.5 +/- 0.6 (S.E.) microM and maximal inhibition at 10(-5) M. Prolactin levels in media were significantly reduced by 30 min of incubation with carbachol. This inhibition persisted for 24 hr and was reversed by 2 microM atropine. The stimulation of prolactin secretion by 10(-6) M thyrotropin releasing hormone (to 1.5 times control) was inhibited by the addition of carbachol (10(-5) M). Addition of atropine (2 microM) to these agents restored maximal stimulation by thyrotropin releasing hormone. The inhibition of carbachol by atropine was competitive, whereas the inhibition of thyrotropin releasing hormone by carbachol was noncompetitive. The apparent affinities (Ki) of several antimuscarinic agents in pituitary cells were determined by their ability to reverse the carbachol inhibition of prolactin secretion: atropine 0.14 nM, scopolamine 0.26 nM, azaprophen 0.3 nM, aprophen 3.0 nM, pirenzepine 42 nM, benactyzine 80 nM and adiphenine 198 nM. These potencies correlated positively with those previously determined for inhibition of alpha amylase secretion from pancreatic acinar cells as well as with those for behavioral depressant actions of the antimuscarinics. Cultured anterior pituitary cells thus provide an effective system for testing the relative potencies of muscarinic antagonists in pituitary cells.

The metabolic fate of aprophen hydrochloride (2-diethylaminoethyl 2,2-diphenylpropionate) was studied in rats after intravenous administration. Both 14C-labeled and unlabeled aprophen were used in these studies. Blood samples were collected and analyzed to determine the identities of the metabolites formed. Utilizing high-performance liquid chromatography, desethylaprophen was identified as a major metabolite in ether-extracted samples from rats, and could be detected in blood samples 1 min after intravenous administration. It was most likely formed by N-de-ethylation of aprophen by a cytochrome P-450-dependent monooxygenase. Synthetic desethylaprophen was found to possess cholinolytic activity (i.e., it functioned as a muscarinic antagonist by blocking the contraction of acetylcholine-stimulated guinea pig ileum, the release of alpha-amylase from pancreatic acinar cells stimulated by carbachol, and also by inhibiting the binding of [3H]N-methyl scopolamine to the muscarinic receptors of guinea pig ileum). It was interesting that although the biological effects of desethylaprophen were 100-fold lower than those of aprophen, it was equally able to compete for the binding sites of muscarinic receptors of the guinea pig ileum.

By Scatchard plot analysis of [3H]QNB (quinuclidinyl benzilate) binding, there are 2 x 10(5) muscarinic sites/cell with a KD about 10 nM in N4TG1 neuroblastoma cells. We have now examined a group of compounds structurally related to aprophen and QNB for their ability to compete with the binding of QNB to the muscarini receptor. Using this structure-inhibition relationship, the functional groups of the muscarinic ligand necessary for binding were partially characterized. It was found that the quinuclidinyl ring structure of QNB can be substituted by either alkane, H, or pyrrolidine at the N without loosing their ability to bind. The addition to the quinuclidinyl ring increases the bulk of the structure and decreases binding. Like the benzilate in QNB, a similar hydrophobic structure is apparently required for the binding.

The effects of the muscarinic antagonists, atropine, aprophen, azaprophen and pirenzepine, on catecholamine secretion stimulated by acetylcholine (ACh) and nicotine were studied using perfused and isolated guinea-pig adrenal glands. Sequential 2-min infusions of ACh (10(-5)M) at 15-min intervals evoked repetitive catecholamine secretory responses for at least 1 hr. This dose of ACh produced a predominantly muscarinic receptor-mediated catecholamine secretory response, which was inhibited by all muscarinic antagonists used. The order of potency was atropine greater than azaprophen greater than pirenzepine greater than aprophen, with IC50 values of 1.0 x 10(-9), 3.8 x 10(-9), 7.0 x 10(-8) and 1.3 x 10(-6) M, respectively. In comparison, repeated 1-min infusions of nicotine (2 x 10(-5) M) at 15-min intervals evoked progressively smaller catecholamine secretory responses over the course of 1 hr. At higher doses, atropine, azaprophen and aprophen also inhibited the nicotine-induced catecholamine secretion. In contrast, pirenzepine had no effect on the nicotinic response. The IC50 values for atropine, azaprophen and aprophen were 2.7 x 10(-6), 1.5 x 10(-6), and 3.2 x 10(-6) M, respectively. Because the antinicotinic effect of atropine and azaprophen was achieved at concentrations 2 to 3 orders of magnitude higher than those needed for the antimuscarinic effect, it was most likely not pharmacologically significant, but rather due to nonspecific inhibition of the nicotinic receptor.

A number of cholinergic muscarinic (M) agonists and antagonists were studied for their ability to enhance tritiated acetylcholine ([3H]ACh) release from electrically field-stimulated rat hippocampal slices. A Ca++-free medium and carbachol, but not nicotine, inhibited [3H]ACh release. Atropine, methylatropine and dexetimide produced concentration-dependent increases in [3H]ACh release to a maximum of about 50% above control. Aprophen and benactyzine produced a maximal response 25 to 35% above control. The selective M1 antagonist pirenzepine had the least effect on [3H]ACh release. Of the nonspecific M1-M2 antagonists studied, benactyzine produced the least amount of [3H]ACh release. The order of potency of the M antagonists in promoting a 15% increase in [3H]ACh release was aprophen greater than benactyzine greater than methylatropine greater than dexetimide greater than pirenzepine greater than atropine. However, the order of promoting maximal release of [3H]ACh was atropine greater than dexetimide greater than methylatropine greater than aprophen greater than benactyzine greater than pirenzepine.

Certain muscarinic antagonists (e.g., atropine, aprophen, and benactyzine) are used as antidotes for the treatment of organophosphate poisoning. We have studied the interaction of aprophen and benactyzine, both aromatic esters of diethylaminoethanol, with nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (AChR) in BC3H-1 intact muscle cells and with receptor-enriched membranes of Torpedo californica. Aprophen and benactyzine diminish the maximal carbamylcholine-elicited sodium influx into muscle cells without shifting Kact (carbamylcholine concentration eliciting 50% of the maximal 22Na+ influx). The concentration dependence for the inhibition of the initial rate of 22Na+ influx by aprophen and benactyzine occurs at lower concentrations (Kant = 3 and 50 microM, respectively) than those needed to inhibit the initial rate of [125I]-alpha-bungarotoxin binding to the agonist/antagonist sites of the AChR (Kp = 83 and 800 microM, respectively). The effective concentration for atropine inhibition of AChR response (Kant = 150 microM in BC3H-1 cells) is significantly higher than those obtained for aprophen and benactyzine. Both aprophen and benactyzine interact with the AChR in its desensitized state in BC3H-1 cells without further enhancing agonist affinity. Furthermore, these ligands do not alter the value of Kdes (equilibrium concentration of agonist which diminishes 50% of the maximal receptor response) in BC3H-1 muscle cells. The affinity of aprophen and benactyzine for the allosterically coupled noncompetitive inhibitor site of the AChR in Torpedo was determined using [3H]phencyclidine as a probe. Both compounds were found to preferentially associate with the high affinity (desensitized) state rather than the resting state of Torpedo AChR. There is a 14- to 23-fold increase in the affinity of aprophen and benactyzine for the AChR (KD = 0.7 and 28.0 microM in the desensitized state compared to 16.4 and 384 microM in the resting state, respectively). These data indicate that aprophen and benactyzine binding are allosterically regulated by the agonist sites of Torpedo AChR. Thus, aprophen and benactyzine are effective noncompetitive inhibitors of the AChR at concentrations of 1-50 microM, in either Torpedo or mammalian AChR. These concentrations correspond very well with the blood level of these drugs found in vivo to produce a therapeutic response against organophosphate poisoning.

In vitro potencies of a series of muscarinic antagonists were compared with their effects on operant behavior. Ki values for inhibition of [3H]N-methylscopolamine binding in N4TG1 neuroblastoma cells correlated positively with ED50 values for the inhibition of carbachol-induced alpha-amylase release from pancreatic acini cells and with KB values for inhibition of acetylcholine-induced contractions of guinea pig ileum. The rank order of potency for inhibition of [3H]N-methylscopolamine binding was quinuclidinyl benzilate = quinuclidinyl xanthene-9-carboxylate greater than (methyl atropine = atropine) greater than benactyzine greater than azaprophen greater than (adiphenine = aprophen) greater than pirenzepine greater than ethyl aprophen. The M1 antagonist, pirenzepine, was a weak inhibitor in the guinea pig ileum and alpha-amylase assays relative to its ability to inhibit [3H]N-methylscopolamine binding; azaprophen exhibited the opposite relationship. Lever-press responses of rats were maintained by food delivery under a schedule requiring 10 responses for each food presentation. The high response rates engendered by this schedule were decreased in a dose-dependent manner by all compounds. The order of potency for this behavioral effect (ED50) was atropine = azaprophen greater than aprophen greater than (methyl atropine = benactyzine) greater than pirenzepine greater than adiphenine. Behavioral depressant actions of the antimuscarinics correlated positively with their potencies in inhibiting alpha-amylase secretion. Pirenzepine was unique in being relatively more potent in its behavioral effects than in its actions in vitro. In contrast to the other antimuscarinic agents studied, the benzilates, benactyzine, aprophen and adiphenine, but not azaprophen, increased behavioral response rates.

The pharmacokinetics of [14C]aprophen and its distribution were determined after intravenous administration to rats. The drug was distributed rapidly with a t1/2 (alpha) of 4 min to highly perfused organs like the brain, kidney and adrenals. An elimination phase was apparent 10 min after injection with a t1/2 (beta) of 23.5 min. The high plasma clearance of the drug was due both to a large volume of distribution and to a high metabolic rate. Aprophen could be hydrolysed to diphenylpropionic acid and diethylaminoethanol in-vivo and in-vitro. Diethylaminoethanol competed with [3H]QNB binding to muscarinic receptors of N4TG1 cells, whereas diphenylpropionic acid did not. The lower plasma concentrations and lower binding activity of diethylaminoethanol compared with aprophen indicate that unchanged aprophen is largely responsible for the in-vivo actions.

Diethylaminoethyl acetate, an acetylcholine analog, was formed upon the incubation of diethylaminoethanol and acetyl-CoA with bovine brain choline acetyltransferase (acetyl-CoA: choline O-acetyltransferase; EC 2.3.1.6). The new product co-chromatographed with authentic diethylaminoethyl acetate on thin layer plates, and its formation was proportional to the duration of incubation and enzyme concentrations. When tested on guinea-pig ileum, diethylaminoethyl acetate was found to be an agonist with an ED50 of 1.3 X 10(-4) M, compared to an ED50 of 2.0 X 10(-7) M for acetylcholine. The contraction of guinea-pig ileum induced by diethylaminoethyl acetate was blocked by atropine. Moreover, diethylaminoethyl acetate induced a secretion of alpha-amylase from isolated pancreatic acini cells; this effect was also blocked by atropine. It is entirely possible that diethylaminoethyl acetate can be a false cholinergic transmitter generated in vivo when drugs such as aprophen or procaine are administered to animals, since either of these drugs can undergo enzymatic hydrolysis to generate diethylaminoethanol. A method for the synthesis of radioactive diethylamino [1,2-14C]ethyl acetate was also described.

Acetylcholinesterases, butyrylcholinesterases, and carboxylesterases appear to form kinetically a homologous enzyme series with respect to many substrates and inhibitors. The present paper evaluates the interaction of aprophen with acetylcholinesterases, butyrylcholinesterases, and carboxylesterases with respect to protecting the enzyme from organophosphate and carbamate inhibition, accelerating pralidoxime iodide (2-PAM) regeneration of the diisopropylphospho-enzyme, and comparing the inhibition and regeneration kinetics of a soluble mammalian acetylcholinesterase with that of bovine erythrocyte acetylcholinesterase. The irreversible inhibition kinetics of diisopropyl fluorophosphate (DFP) and eserine inhibition of fetal bovine serum acetylcholinesterase were typical of other acetylcholinesterases as indicated by the bimolecular inhibition rate constants, ki, of 7.7 +/- 1.3 X 10(4) M-1 min-1 and 2.9 +/- 1.7 X 10(6) M-1 min-1, respectively. Similarly, the bimolecular regeneration rate constant, kr, for 2-PAM regeneration of the diisopropylphospho-acetylcholinesterase was 14.7 M-1 min-1. The bimolecular rate constants, ki and kr, were not statistically perturbed when the reaction was monitored in the presence of aprophen with the fetal bovine serum acetylcholinesterase. Human serum butyrylcholinesterase was partially protected from DFP inhibition by aprophen with no detectable change in the bimolecular inhibition rate constant, ki. The regeneration of the diisopropylphospho-butyrylcholinesterase by 2-PAM was accelerated in the presence of aprophen by a factor of 2.7 over that of 2-PAM alone (8.4 +/- 2.2 M-1 min-1 to 23.1 +/- 2.6 M-1 min-1 respectively). Neither the inhibition (DFP) nor the regeneration (2-PAM) kinetics observed for the carboxylesterase was perturbed by the presence of aprophen.

The efficacies of a number of drug treatment combinations in protecting guinea pigs against the lethal and incapacitating effects of soman (and sarin) have been determined. Incapacitation was studied using a swimming test which is a measure of gross motor performance. The drug combinations employed had no effect on the swimming performance of unpoisoned animals. Pyridostigmine pretreatment supported by postpoisoning therapy with atropine, pralidoxime mesylate (P2S), and diazepam protected guinea pigs against the lethal actions of soman and sarin, but the treatment was less effective in protecting against the agent-induced decrements in swimming performance. Replacing pyridostigmine (a quaternary carbamate) by physostigmine (which readily enters the CNS) and introducing aprophen (an anti-cholinergic drug with a range of pharmacological actions) improved the protection achieved against both lethality and incapacitation. When the postpoisoning therapy was omitted, pretreatment with physostigmine and aprophen (or some other anti-cholinergic drug) gave significant levels of protection against both soman- and sarin-induced lethality and incapacitation. It is concluded that a number of different pharmacological actions are required to antagonize nerve agent-induced incapacitation and that they, and their relative importance, remain to be identified.

Aprophen, alpha-methyl-alpha-phenylbenzeneacetic acid-2-(diethylamino) ethyl ester, is a potent reversible inhibitor and a poor substrate of human serum butyrylcholinesterase (BCHE). Complex mixed competitive noncompetitive inhibition kinetics were observed; an apparent competitive inhibition constant was estimated to be 3.7 X 10(-7) M. BCHE hydrolysis of aprophen to diphenylpropionic acid and diethylaminoethanol did not appear to follow Michaelis-Menten kinetics. The BCHE turnover number for aprophen was 2.0 X 10(-3) sec-1. Rabbit liver oligomeric and monomeric carboxylesterases (CE) also hydrolyzed aprophen with a similar turnover number that varied from 1.4 X 10(-3) sec-1 to 4.3 X 10(-4) sec-1 respectively. Comparison of the catalytic rate of aprophen hydrolysis with butyrylthiocholine (BTC) and the neutral aromatic substrate, phenylthiobutyrate (phi TB), indicated that BCHE hydrolyzed BTC and phi TB 3.2 X 10(5) and 3.1 X 10(5) times more rapidly than aprophen respectively. Similarly, the CEs also hydrolyzed BTC and phi TB 17.6 and 1.9 X 10(5) times rapidly than aprophen. Acetylcholinesterases from bovine erythrocyte and electric eel were not inhibited by aprophen nor was aprophen hydrolyzed by these enzymes. The hydrolysis and inhibition reactions may best be described by a complex reaction scheme involving multiple binding sites for both the substrate and the inhibitor as well as positive cooperative ligand binding.

Screening and electrophysiological methods were applied to the verification of the hypothesis on a possibility of participation of cholinergic structures in the realization of bicucullin effects. M- and N-cholinolytics (benactizine, atropine, aprophen, and pediphen) failed to arrest the convulsions induced in mice by bicucullin adminstration. At the same time substances inducing accumulation of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the brain, i.e. aminooxycetic acid and depakin produced a manifest protective action in convulsions caused by bicucullin administration. In electrophysiological experiments there was also revealed an incapacity of M-cholinolytic benaltizine to arrest the bicucullin effects. Bicucullin proved to diminish depression of the test response in the restoration cycle of the primary response of the rat sensory motor cortex at the intervals of 40--125ms between the stimuli, whereas benactizine decreased the late facilitation of the test response at the intervals of 150--300ms between the stimuli. There was also noted no interaction between benactizine and bicucullin by this test. On the basis of these data a conclusion was drawn that bicucullin effects were caused by the block of postsynaptic GABA receptors, and were not connected with the cholinergic structures activity.