Hypoparathyroidism is a disease of chronic hypocalcemia and hyperphosphatemia due to a deficiency of parathyroid hormone (PTH). PTH and analogs of the hormone are of interest as potential therapies. Accordingly, we examined the pharmacological properties of a long-acting PTH analog, [Ala1,3,12,18,22, Gln10,Arg11,Trp14,Lys26]-PTH(1–14)/PTHrP(15–36) (LA–PTH) in thyroparathyroidectomized (TPTX) rats, a model of HP, as well as in normal monkeys. In TPTX rats, a single intra-venous administration of LA-PTH at a dose of 0.9 nmol/kg increased serum calcium (sCa) and decreased serum phosphate (sPi) to near-normal levels for longer than 48 hours, while PTH(1–34) and PTH(1–84), each injected at a dose 80-fold higher than that used for LA-PTH, increased sCa and decreased sPi only modestly and transiently (< 6 hours). LA-PTH also exhibited enhanced and prolonged efficacy versus PTH(1–34) and PTH(1–84) for elevating sCa when administered subcutaneously (SC) into monkeys. Daily SC administration of LA-PTH (1.8 nmol/kg) into TPTX rats for 28-days elevated sCa to near normal levels without causing hypercalciuria or increasing bone resorption markers, a desirable goal in the treatment of hypoparathyroidism. The results are supportive of further study of long-acting PTH analogs as potential therapies for patients with hypoparathyroidism.
-Heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) is a constitutively expressed molecular chaperone and plays an important role in the folding of client proteins with key regulatory roles in growth, survival, differentiation and metastasis. Because inhibition of Hsp90 degrades multiple oncogenic client proteins, it is considered to be an attractive anticancer therapy, and clinical trials of several Hsp90 inhibitors have been carried out. In the present study, two structurally distinct Hsp90 inhibitors, CH5164840 and CH5449302, were orally administered to beagle dogs to evaluate systemic toxicity. CH5164840 induced symptoms that suggest visual disorder, and ophthalmological observation and electroretinography (ERG) revealed loss of pupillary light reflex and abnormal waveforms, respectively. Histopathological examination showed changes in the photoreceptor cell layer and the outer nuclear layer of retina. On the other hand, while there were no clinical symptoms related to visual disorder, animals treated with CH5449302 showed similar abnormalities of ERG responses and histopathological changes in the photoreceptor cell layer and the outer nuclear layer of retina. The visual symptoms and abnormalities of ERG responses were noted at an earlier stage or lower dose than other toxicities in both compounds. Considering that two structurally distinct Hsp90 inhibitors induced a retinal toxicity in dogs after repeated administration, and that visual disorders were also reported in some clinical trials of Hsp90 inhibitors, it would seem highly likely that Hsp90 inhibition induces retinal toxicity. Also, our study indicated that a detailed ocular examination to evaluate the safety of Hsp90 inhibitors would be useful in both preclinical and clinical studies.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.