Importance of hepatic metabolism in the antiaggregating activity of the thienopyridine clopidogrel.

The thienopyridine clopidogrel is not active in vitro and must be administered i.v. or orally, suggesting that metabolism is necessary for activity. To verify whether the effect after i.v. administration was consecutive to recycling by hepatic bile secretion of clopidogrel or its metabolite(s) in the digestive tract, a catheter was implanted in the choledocus of rats, preventing bile and pancreatic secretions from being excreted into the digestive tractus. Two hours after clopidogrel administration (10 mg/kg, i.v.), blood was withdrawn and platelet-rich plasma aggregation was measured after the addition of 5 microM ADP. Clopidogrel treatment was equally efficient for sham-operated and catheterized animals (% inhibition of platelet aggregation: 76% and 59%, respectively) suggesting that the i.v. effect of clopidogrel was independent of re-absorption of biliary-excreted products and consequently that enteric metabolism is not necessary for activity. The antiaggregating activity of clopidogrel in rats before and after functional hepatectomy by a porto-jugular shunt was then studied. A great difference between treated animals was observed 30 min after i.v. administration of 25 mg/kg of clopidogrel. Per cent inhibition of platelet aggregation was 76% and 6% (P less than 0.001) for sham-operated and hepatectomized animals, respectively. Similar results were obtained after intraduodenal administration of clopidogrel, showing that the treatment was completely ineffective in hepatectomized animals. In isolated, blood-perfused rat livers, clopidogrel inhibited ADP-induced platelet aggregation, thereby supporting the theory that the activity of clopidogrel is highly dependent on hepatic metabolism.

Enhancement of neurite outgrowth from central nervous system neurons in primary culture by thrombin inhibitors.

Previous studies have shown that serine protease inhibitors promote neurite outgrowth from neuroblastoma cells, sympathetic neurons and sensory ganglia in culture. In the present study, a neurite promoting activity of thrombin inhibitors such as hirudin, D-Phe,Pro,Arg-CH2Cl, and paraamidinophenylalanine derivatives, was found in rat embryo (E17) septal neurons in primary culture. In contrast, no effect was shown on choline acetyltransferase activity of septal fragments in culture. These results suggest that thrombin inhibitors might interact with a thrombin-like protease involved in the control of neurite outgrowth.

Inhibition by recombinant hirudins of experimental venous thrombosis and disseminated intravascular coagulation induced by tissue factor in rats.

Antithrombotic potency of recombinant hirudins rHV2, rHV2-Lys47 and rHV2-Arg47 was studied in a model of experimental thrombosis induced by tissue factor in the rat. Venous thrombosis was induced by i.v. injection of 25 mg/kg tissue factor followed by stasis of the inferior vena cava. In this model natural recombinant hirudins, rHV2 and rHV2-Lys47 injected 5 min before thrombo-plastin totally inhibited thrombosis in the same micrograms range as heparin or natural hirudin extracted from leeches. However, the mutant variant rHV2-Arg47 gave a maximal 60% inhibition of thrombosis. Variants rHV2-Lys47 (30 micrograms/kg) and rHV2-Arg47 (157 micrograms/kg) injected 5 min before thromboplastin prevented by 90 to 100% the drop in platelet count observed during the disseminated intravascular coagulation induced by thromboplastin injection. Recombinant hirudins were less anticoagulant than heparin as measured by an APTT on rat plasma. After rat tail transection, rHV2-Lys47 caused a 2-fold smaller prolongation of the bleeding time than an equivalent antithrombotic dose of heparin. Plasmatic elimination of rHV2-Lys47 from rat plasma after i.v. injection had a fast distribution phase with a half-life of 3 min during which 90% of injected rHV2-Lys47 was lost and was followed by a slower elimination phase. Thus recombinant hirudin rHV2-Lys47 appears as a promising potent antithrombotic agent for the prevention of thrombin-dependent venous thrombosis and disseminated intravascular coagulation.

Production and evaluation of recombinant hirudin.

Hirudin, a 65 amino acid polypeptide form the medicinal leech, is an extremely efficient and specific thrombin inhibitor whose therapeutic potential has been demonstrated in a number of animal models. We have developed protocols for the production of recombinant hirudin by secretion from S. cerevisiae and carried out a full biologic evaluation of the purified product. These studies showed that natural and recombinant hirudin was similar in structure and in biologic function in vitro. Moreover, the recombinant protein displayed strong antithrombotic activity in several experimental thrombosis models in vivo, confirming the molecule's promise in the therapy of thrombotic disorders.

ADP plays a key role in thrombogenesis in rats.

The relative importance of ADP, arachidonic acid metabolites and serotonin as thrombogenic factors was evaluated in rats by comparing, after oral administration, the effects of two inhibitors of ADP-induced platelet aggregation (ticlopidine and PCR 4099), three cyclo-oxygenase inhibitors (aspirin, triflusal and indobufen) and a selective serotonin 5HT2 receptor antagonist (ketanserin) on platelet aggregation, in four platelet-dependent thrombosis models and on bleeding time. Platelet aggregation induced by ADP and collagen was completely inhibited by ticlopidine and PCR 4099 whereas only the collagen aggregation was reduced by the cyclo-oxygenase inhibitors. Ketanserin or a depletion of platelet serotonin by reserpine did not affect platelet aggregation. Ticlopidine and PCR 4099 greatly prolonged rat tail transection bleeding time. This is probably related to their known ability to inhibit ADP-mediated platelet aggregation. In contrast, the cyclooxygenase inhibitors did not affect bleeding time at all. Reserpine and ketanserin prolonged bleeding time by interfering with the action of serotonin on the vascular wall. Ticlopidine and PCR 4099 were very potent antithrombotics in all the models. Aspirin, only at a high dose, inhibited poorly thrombus formation on a silk thread in an arterio-venous shunt, suggesting that the inhibition of cyclo-oxygenase was not responsible. Triflusal was inactive in all models while indobufen slightly reduced thrombus formation in the silk thread and metallic coil models. Ketanserin and reserpine reduced thrombus only in the metallic coil model. Thrombus formation was greatly reduced in fawn-hooded rats, which lack ADP in their platelet dense granules because of a genetic storage pool deficiency.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Broad spectrum anti-platelet activity of ticlopidine and PCR 4099 involves the suppression of the effects of released ADP.

Aggregation and serotonin secretion were studied in washed rat platelets after oral administration of ticlopidine or its more potent analog PCR 4099. Besides a complete suppression of the ADP-induced aggregation, the two drugs significantly inhibited aggregation and secretion induced by three protein kinase C activators (1-oleoyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycerol, OAG; 12-0-tetradecanoyl phorbol-13-acetate, TPA; phospholipase C), by the calcium ionophore A 23187 and by thrombin. The highest inhibition was observed at low stimuli concentrations but could be partly or almost completely overcome by increasing their concentrations. The combination of aspirin (ASA) with the ADP scavenging system, creatine phosphate/creatine phosphokinase (CP/CPK) in vitro resulted in an inhibition similar to that observed ex vivo after ticlopidine or PCR 4099 treatment. Moreover, these in vitro and ex vivo treatments were not additive. As identical results were obtained with CP/CPK alone but not with ASA, it is concluded that ticlopidine and PCR 4099 do not interfere with protein kinase C or calcium movements but specifically inhibit the effects of released ADP, which might explain the broad spectrum anti-platelet activity of these drugs.

[Physicochemical properties of an extracellular polysaccharide isolated from culture media of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens]. / Propriétés physicochimiques d'un polysaccharide extra-cellulaire isolé des moûts de fermentation de Bacillus amyloliquefaciens.

A new extracellular polysaccharide has been isolated by chromatography on anion exchanger of a fraction obtained from highly viscous culture media of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens. This polysaccharide is characterised by high molecular weight (1,000,000 dalton) and intrinsic viscosity (323 ml/g). It contains 24% neutral sugar (galactose and mannose 5:1), 35% glucuronic acid and 51.5% N-acetylhexosamines (N-actylglucosamine, N-acetylgalactosamine and N-acetylbacillosamine 6:9:1).