The pharmacodynamics of 6-(3-dimethylaminopropionyl)forskolin and a possible metabolite in beagles.

A specific gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy method with a detection limit of 0.1 ng/mL was developed for the measurement of 6-(3-dimethylaminopropionyl)forskolin (1) in beagle plasma. Using this method, plasma concentrations of 1 in beagles given pharmacologically effective intravenous doses of 1.HCl were determined. The observed maximal plasma concentrations rapidly decreased with time, and half-lives of the alpha-phases were < 9 min. Pharmacological effects of 1 on the cardiovascular parameters were simultaneously evaluated in one of the studies. Decreases of the pharmacological effects were slower than decreases in plasma concentration of 1. In addition, 6-(3-methylaminopropionyl)forskolin (N-monodemethyl 1), an expected initial metabolite of 1, was prepared and found to be as pharmacologically active as 1 in beagles. These results and others strongly suggest that a metabolite(s) of 1 contributes to the pharmacological effects of 1 in beagles.

Action of ubenimex on aminopeptidase activities in spleen cells and peritoneal macrophages from mice.

The action of ubenimex on aminopeptidase (APase) activity was studied in intact spleen cells and peritoneal macrophages from mice. Ubenimex strongly inhibited hydrolyzing activities against arginine-beta-naphtylamide (Arg-NA), Lys-NA and Pro-NA in both cells. Inhibition of hydrolysis of Leu-NA, Met-NA and Ala-NA was relatively small or not observed. When both cells were incubated in HANKS' solution, hydrolyzing activities against Arg-NA, Lys-NA and Pro-NA were released to the medium, while Leu-NA and Met-NA-hydrolyzing activities were mostly bound. In addition, the Leu-NA-hydrolyzing activity in the spleen cells was kinetically studied. The Arg-NA and Leu-NA-hydrolyzing activities in four fractions prepared from the homogenate of spleen cells were also studied kinetically. From these studies it was suggested that ubenimex inhibits aminopeptidase B and a Pro-NA-hydrolyzing enzyme more effectively than Leu-APase in intact spleen cells and peritoneal macrophages from mice.

Enhancement of colony formation of mouse bone marrow cells by ubenimex.

Ubenimex enhanced colony formation of bone marrow cells from CDF1 mice induced by L920 cell supernatant, which shows a macrophage-colony-stimulating activity (M-CSA), and also enhanced the colony formation induced CDF1 mouse spleen cell conditioned medium, which shows a granulocyte and macrophage-colony-stimulating activity. The maximal effect was obtained at 0.01 microgram/ml. But, ubenimex showed no effect on the nature of the colonies induced by each CSA. By preincubation of the bone marrow cells with ubenimex, M-CSA-induced colony-forming and the M-CSA-binding activities of the cells were increased. These results suggest that ubenimex enhances the CSA-induced colony formation of bone marrow progenitor cells of CDF1 mouse by increasing the amount of the CSA-binding to the cells.

Enhancement of interleukin 1 and interleukin 2 releases by ubenimex.

The effect of ubenimex on the release of interleukin 1 (IL-1) and interleukin 2 (IL-2) from immuno-competent cells was studied. Ubenimex enhanced release of IL-1 from mouse peritoneal macrophages at 1.0 and 100 micrograms/ml in vitro and the release at 1.0 microgram/ml was larger. When ubenimex was administered to mice IL-1-releasing activity of the peritoneal macrophages was enhanced 3 and 5 days after the administration but not enhanced 1 day after the administration. Ubenimex also enhanced IL-2 release from rat spleen cells at 0.1 and 10 micrograms/ml, when concanavalin A (Con A) was added in the IL-2-releasing system. The enhancement was still observed with mouse spleen cells, when serum was further added. Moreover, thymocyte-proliferating activity was attained in the broths which rat spleen cells were incubated with ubenimex from 0.1 to 10 micrograms/ml in the absence and presence of Con A.

Enhancement of graft-versus-host reaction and delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity in mice by ubenimex.

The effect of ubenimex on graft-versus-host reaction and delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity in mice was studied. Ubenimex enhanced the graft-versus-host reaction in a dose range from 0.005 to 0.5 mg/kg. Ubenimex inhibited the aging-caused decrease of delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity to oxazolone and the efficacy was greater with older mice. Ubenimex also inhibited mitomycin C and L1210-caused decreases of delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity to picryl chloride. However, the excess decrease caused by mitomycin C was not significantly altered by ubenimex.

The effect of ubenimex on N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine-induced stomach tumor in rats.

The effect of ubenimex on the progression of N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG)-induced stomach tumor in rats was studied. Tumor induction was performed by giving MNNG via drinking water for 34 weeks. Ubenimex was ip administered twice a week at 0.5 mg/kg for 84 weeks in one group and 49 weeks in another starting from the first and 36th weeks after initiation of MNNG administration, respectively. The stomachs were endoscopically examined 2 times. At the 64th week after initiation of MNNG administration tumorous lesions were observed with about 70% of the rats in both ubenimex administration groups. In the ubenimex non-administration group nearly 90% of the rats had the lesions. After completion of ubenimex administration almost all the rats had the lesions in the three groups but the sizes were much smaller with the two ubenimex administration groups. Almost all of these lesions were histopathologically identified as tumorous. The tumor volume per rat in the two ubenimex administration groups from the 1 and 36th weeks was 21.0 and 19.2% of the volume in the control group, respectively. Tumor number per rat was similar among the three groups. The natural killer activity of rats was also examined after completion of the above experiment. The activity markedly increased when ubenimex was administered from the 36th week after initiation of MNNG administration. When ubenimex was administered from the first week, the activity did not increase demonstratively. From all the results described above we conclude that ubenimex exerts an inhibitory action against the progression of MNNG-induced stomach tumor in rats. Contribution of the increase of natural killer activity to ubenimex antitumor action may be dependent on schedule of ubenimex administration.

Radioimmunoassay of bleomycins.

Rabbit antisera highly specific to the bleomycinic acid moiety of bleomycins were obtained by immunizing with a conjugate of copper-complex of bleomycin A5 and bovine serum albumin. These antisera not only reacted with bleomycin A5 but also with other bleomycins such as bleomycin A2, bleomycin B2 and peplomycin. The antisera showed little cross-reactivity with deamido-, depyruvamido- and decarbamoyl-bleomycins. Thus, these antisera were found to be highly specific for the intact bleomycinic acid moiety. One of the antisera was successfully applied to radioimmunoassay of bleomycin and peplomycin in mouse and human sera. The detection limit was 1 ng/ml. This radioimmunoassay is expected to be widely used for the determination of active bleomycins in biological and clinical samples.

Enhancement of antitumor effect of cytotoxic agents by bestatin.

Bestatin enhanced the antitumor effects of mitomycin C, 5-fluorouracil and cis-dichlorodiammineplatinum against a syngeneic solid tumor of colon adenocarcinoma 26 in BALB/c mice. The enhancement was dependent on administration schedule. Bestatin administration after treatment with the cytotoxic agents was more effective than that made before the treatment.

Antitumor activity and toxicity of serum protein-bound platinum formed from cisplatin.

When cisplatin was incubated with mouse serum, its cytotoxicity towards P388 leukemia cells decreased with the formation of non-ultrafiltrable or protein-bound platinum. The cytotoxicity of prepared mouse serum protein-bound platinum at 100 microgram/ml (as the cisplatin-equivalent concentration) was less than that of cisplatin at 0.125 microgram/ml. The prepared protein-bound platinum exhibited antitumor activity against colon adenocarcinoma 26 in mice, when administered iv daily for 9 consecutive days at 32 and 64 mg/kg (as the cisplatin-equivalent dose). Cisplatin similarly administered exhibited antitumor activity at daily doses of only 1 and 2 mg/kg. Administration of the protein-bound platinum at such high doses as 32 and 64 mg/kg (as the cisplatin-equivalent dose) caused elevation of serum BUN and reduction of bone marrow cells in mice. After iv administration of cisplatin to mice at 6 mg/kg, ultrafiltrable platinum was detected in the plasma for the first 30 min. Thereafter platinum was found only in protein-bound form. When mice were iv inoculated with colon adenocarcinoma 26 more than 30 min after cisplatin administration, no prolongation of the life span was observed. From these results, it is concluded that mouse serum protein-bound platinum does not contribute significantly to cisplatin antitumor activity and toxicity in mice.

Effect of bestatin on syngeneic tumors in mice.

The antitumor effect of bestatin against syngeneic tumors such as colon adenocarcinoma 26 (colon 26) and myeloid leukemia C1498 ( C1498 ) was investigated. Bestatin effectively inhibited the growth of both tumors in vivo. The inhibition observed for colon 26 was the largest when bestatin was administered on days 1 to 5 after transplantation of the tumor. The inhibition of C1498 was the largest when bestatin was administered on days 7 to 11. In contrast to these results, bestatin was not at all inhibitory to either tumor line in vitro. Thus, the effect of bestatin administration on the functions of the spleen cells of mice bearing tumors was examined. Spleen cells taken from mice bearing colon 26 and C1498 did not neutralize the corresponding tumor. However, when bestatin was administered to these mice, spleen cells from the administered mice did neutralize the corresponding tumor. Bestatin enhanced antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity and natural killer cell activity of the spleen cells of colon 26-bearing mice. Further, bestatin did not inhibit the growth of colon 26 in BALB/c nu/nu mice. It was concluded that bestatin exhibits its antitumor effect against colon 26 and C1498 indirectly by immunomodulation via spleen cells and possibly via T cells.