Evaluation of apomorphine HCl effects on reproductive endpoints: studies in male rats and dogs.

Apomorphine HCl is currently in phase III clinical trials for the treatment of erectile dysfunction. The potential for reproductive toxicity in males was assessed based on a 13-week rat study--a fertility study in male rats--and a 6-month study in dogs. The subcutaneous (s.c.) route was selected to simulate the sublingual route in humans. Dosages of apomorphine were 0.0 (vehicle), 0.8, 2, and 8 mg/kg/day in the 13-week study in rats (20/group), with 8 mg/kg/day used for only 9 weeks. In the fertility study, 24 males/group were cohabited with females, and doses were 0.0, 0.2, 0.8, and 2 mg/kg/day. Males were treated for 4 weeks prior to cohabitation and for 5 weeks throughout cohabitation. Organ weights, including testis and left epididymis, sperm count and morphology in the epididymis, and sperm motility in the vas deferens were evaluated. Male fertility index, and in females, the numbers of fetuses, implantation sites, and corpora lutea were counted. Male dogs (five/group) were dosed with 0.04, 0.1, or 0.4 mg/kg/day for 6 months. Epididymal and prostate weight, and testicular and epididymal histology were evaluated. Daily morbidity/mortality, weekly clinical observations, body weight, and food consumption were evaluated in all studies. No adverse effect was observed in any of the reproductive parameters in the studies. The NOEL for reproductive toxicity was approximately equal to 0.4 mg/kg/day in dogs and > or = 2 mg/kg/day in rats. These doses in rats and dogs correlated with plasma levels of approximately 240 and 130 ng/mL, and AUCs of 200 and 100 ng.h/mL, respectively. These levels suggest a safety margin for the evaluated male reproductive endpoints of at least 104 times based on the Cmax, and 44 times based on AUC of the clinical dose.

Structure of amiprilose hydrochloride, a novel anti-inflammatory agent.

Amiprilose hydrochloride is a carbohydrate-derived, novel anti-inflammatory with potential application in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. A spectroscopy-based approach was undertaken to assign both the relative and absolute configuration of its five chiral centers. The fully assigned 13C and 1H NMR spectra of amiprilose hydrochloride was used to establish the relative stereochemistry of four of its five chiral centers held rigid in its furanose ring system. Parallel synthesis of the enantiomer of amiprilose hydrochloride from L-glucose was followed by CD spectropolarimetry to establish that no inversion of chiral centers had occurred in the synthesis. The hydrobromide salt of amiprilose and its enantiomer were prepared and, together with amiprilose hydrochloride, were crystallized. X-ray crystallographic analysis resulted in the assignment of the absolute configuration of all five chiral centers.

Anti-herpesvirus action of isoprinosine.

Anti-herpesvirus effects of Isoprinosine were found to be condition-dependent in vitro and in vivo. A herpes type 1 strain, grown in primary rabbit kidney cells, was not susceptible to Isoprinosine when cytopathic effect was evaluated, but was modestly inhibited when plaque-forming methocel overlay was used in the same cell line. However, the growth of a herpes type 2 strain was inhibited by Isoprinosine in this system when cytopathic effect was evaluated. Both viruses produced an encephalitis in hamsters after application by corneal abrasion. The encephalitis produced by a 1.5 mean lethal dose of herpesvirus was strikingly suppressed by large doses of Isoprinosine given ad libitum in the drinking water; this protection was not seen, however, at 15 mean lethal doses. Anti-herpes effects of Isoprinosine were suppressed by additional treatment with cortisone, both in tissue culture and in vivo. Isoprinosine, in the absence of virus infection, produced significant effects on the metabolism, structure, and function of brain ribosomes. In vivo, RNA components were labeled more rapidly and gave up their radioactivity more slowly after treatment with Isoprinosine. This enhanced cytoplasmic radioactivity was associated with a loss of incorporated radioactivity located in the nucleus and an increase in radioactivity located in a ribonucleo-protein fraction >4S and <18S. Ribosomes from treated brains gave physical evidence of being more compact (less orthochromic). Isoprinosine treatment increased the incorporation of [(14)C]phenylalanine into nascent protein in a cell-free system examining protein synthesis in brain polyribosomes. The addition of the exogenous messenger ribonucleic acid, polyuridylic acid, produced a significant age-dependent inhibition in the incorporation of [(14)C] phenylalanine. This inhibition was significantly greater when ribosomes were isolated from animals pretreated with Isoprinosine. These and other observations suggest that the Isoprinosine stimulation of host ribonucleic acid metabolism may be coupled to the production of ribosomes that do not effectively translate exogenous messenger ribonucleic acid.