Background and purpose: Mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH-2) has been shown to provide a pathway for bioactivation of organic nitrates and to be prone to desensitization in response to highly potent, but not to less potent, nitrates. We therefore sought to support the hypothesis that bioactivation by ALDH-2 critically depends on the number of nitrate groups within the nitrovasodilator. Experimental approach: Nitrates with one (PEMN), two (PEDN; GDN), three (PETriN; glyceryl trinitrate, GTN) and four (pentaerithrityl tetranitrate, PETN) nitrate groups were investigated. Vasodilatory potency was measured in isometric tension studies using isolated aortic segments of wild type (WT) and ALDH-2 À/À mice. Activity of the cGMP-dependent kinase-I (reflected by levels of phosphorylated VAsodilator Stimulated Phosphoprotein, P-VASP) was quantified by Western blot analysis, mitochondrial dehydrogenase activity by HPLC. Following incubation of isolated mitochondria with PETN, PETriNchromophore and PEDN, metabolites were quantified using chemiluminescence nitrogen detection and mass spectrometry. Key results: Compared to WT, vasorelaxation in response to PETN, PETriN and GTN was attenuated about 10fold in ALDH-2 À/À mice, identical to WT vessels preincubated with inhibitors of ALDH-2. Reduced vasodilator potency correlated with reduced P-VASP formation and diminished biotransformation of the tetranitrate-and trinitrate-compounds. None of these findings were observed for PEDN, GDN and PEMN. Conclusions and implications: Our results support the crucial role of ALDH-2 in bioactivating highly reactive nitrates like GTN, PETN and PETriN. ALDH-2-mediated relaxation by organic nitrates therefore depends mainly on the number of nitrate groups. Less potent nitrates like PEDN, GDN and PEMN are apparently biotransformed by other pathways.

Objective-Nitrate tolerance is likely attributable to an increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) leading to an inhibition of the mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH-2), representing the nitroglycerin (GTN) and pentaerythrityl tetranitrate (PETN) bioactivating enzyme, and to impaired nitric oxide bioactivity and signaling. We tested whether differences in their capacity to induce heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) might explain why PETN and not GTN therapy is devoid of nitrate and cross-tolerance. Methods and Results-Wistar rats were treated with PETN or GTN (10.5 or 6.6 g/kg/min for 4 days). In contrast to GTN, PETN did not induce nitrate tolerance or cross-tolerance as assessed by isometric tension recordings in isolated aortic rings. Vascular protein and mRNA expression of HO-1 and ferritin were increased in response to PETN but not GTN. In contrast to GTN therapy, NO signaling, ROS formation, and the activity of ALDH-2 (as assessed by an high-performance liquid chromatography-based method) were not significantly influenced by PETN. Inhibition of HO-1 expression by apigenin induced "tolerance" to PETN whereas HO-1 gene induction by hemin prevented tolerance in GTN treated rats. Conclusions-HO-1 expression and activity appear to play a key role in the development of nitrate tolerance and might represent an intrinsic antioxidative mechanism of therapeutic interest. See page 1673Recently, a novel bioactivation pathway for GTN was reported, and the mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH-2) was identified as the bioactivating enzyme. 7 The link between GTN-induced oxidative stress and the development of nitrate tolerance was established by the demonstration of increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) production within mitochondria, 8 which inactivate the ALDH-2 by oxidizing sulfhydryl (SH)-groups in the active center of the enzyme. 9 Further evidence for an important role of mitochondria in the development of nitrate tolerance was provided in studies with mice with partial manganese superoxide dismutase deficiency (Mn-SOD ϩ/Ϫ mice). With these studies we could demonstrate that Mn-SOD ϩ/Ϫ mice had a significantly higher susceptibility for the development of nitrate tolerance compared with wild-type mice. 10 Further support for a causal involvement of mitochondrial ROS in nitrate tolerance came from experiments where mitochondria-targeted antioxidants were able to prevent the development of tolerance. 11 Recently, we were able to demonstrate that PETN bioactivation is also mediated by the ALDH-2 and therefore that this organic nitrate shares the same biotransformation process Original

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The binding of the (R)- and (S)-enantiomers of amlodipine to bovine serum albumin (BSA), human serum albumin (HSA), alpha(1)-acid glycoprotein (AGP), and human plasma (HP) was studied by equilibrium dialysis over the concentration range of 75-200 microM at a protein concentration of 150 microM. Unbound drug concentrations were determined by enantioselective capillary electrophoresis using 50 mM phosphate buffer, pH 2.5, containing 18 mM alpha-cyclodextrin as background electrolyte. Saturation of the protein binding sites was not observed over the concentration range tested. Upon application of racemic amlodipine besylate, (S)-amlodipine was bound to a higher extend by HSA and HP compared with (R)-amlodipine, whereas the opposite binding of the enantiomers was observed for BSA and AGP. Scatchard analysis was used to illustrate the different binding affinities of amlodipine besylate enantiomers to BSA, HSA and AGP.

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Leukotrienes (LTs) are proinflammatory mediators derived from arachidonic acid (AA), which play significant roles in inflammatory diseases. The 5-lipoxygenase-activating protein (FLAP) is an integral membrane protein, which is essential for the initial step in LT biosynthesis. The aim of this study was to discover novel and chemically diverse FLAP inhibitors for treatment of inflammatory diseases requiring anti-LT therapy. Both ligand- and structure-based approaches were applied to explain the activities of known FLAP inhibitors in relation to their predicted binding modes. We gained valuable insights into the binding modes of the inhibitors by molecular modeling and generated a multistep virtual screening (VS) workflow in which 6.2 million compounds were virtually screened, and the molecular hypotheses were validated by testing VS-hit compounds biologically. The most potent hit compounds showed significant inhibition of FLAP-dependent cellular LT biosynthesis with IC50 values in the range from 0.13 to 0.87 μM. Collectively, this study provided novel bioactive chemotypes with potential for further development as effective anti-inflammatory drugs.

Dibenzo- and benzindolo-azecines represent a class of potential neuroleptics. To characterize the effectiveness at the dopamine and 5-HT-receptor representative structures were synthesized and tested by radio ligand binding studies, in vivo and in vitro studies.Neuroleptic potency and the risk of side effects of the prodrug 7-methyl-5,6,7,8,9,14-hexahydrodibenzo[d,g]azecin-3-yl isobutyrate, an ester derivative of the most promising azecine 7-methyl-5,6,7,8,9,14-hexahydrodibenzo[d,g]azecin-3-ol (LE404), was tested in vivo concerning conditioned avoidance response inhibition, locomotor activity and triggering of catalepsy vs. haloperidol as a reference. Also ester hydrolysis was examined using porcine liver esterase to thereby obtain an indication of the stability of the prodrug in vivo. An HPLC method was developed for purity control and determination of octanol/water-distribution coefficients.It has been shown that the tested substances in their efficacy are comparable to haloperidol and risperidone, but the therapeutic index in most cases is larger. Esterification as a prodrug principle leads to significantly prolonged effectiveness.

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