ABSTRACT-FRG-8813 ((±)-2-(furfurylsulfinyl)-N-[4-[4-(piperidinomethyl)-2-pyridyl]oxy-(Z)-2-butenyl]acetamide) is a novel histamine H2-receptor antagonist with gastric antisecretory and gastroprotective activities. The present study was designed to investigate the property of gastroprotective action. The oral ED50 values for inhibition of mucosal lesions against 1076 NH3-, 60% ethanol in 0.15 N HCl-, 100% ethanol-, 0.6 N HCl-and sodium taurocholate in 0.4 N HCl-induced damage were 3.3, 11.1, 14.9, 23.3 and 23.1 mg/kg, respectively. FRG-8813 was gastroprotective despite pretreatment with omeprazole, suggesting that the protective effect is independent of its antisecretory activity. It is unlikely that FRG-8813 works as a mild irritant because it showed a gastroprotective effect after intraperitoneal injection, but oral administration itself did not influence the rat gastric mucosa. Although pretreatment with indomethacin or N-ethylmaleimide did not affect the gastroprotection of FRG-8813, chemical deafferentation induced by capsaicin abolished the gastroprotection.Furthermore, prior administration of tetrodotoxin, the calcitonin generelated peptide (CGRP) antagonist hCGRP8_37 or N~-nitro-L-arginine attenuated the gastroprotection of FRG-8813 as well as that of capsaicin. In contrast to capsaicin, repeated administration of FRG-8813 neither enhanced the susceptibility of the mucosa to damage nor affected the gastroprotective action of short-term treatment. In conclusion, these results suggest that FRG-8813 has gastroprotective activity independently of acid antisecretory activity and that capsaicin-sensitive nerves may be partially or fully involved in the gastroprotective mechanisms of FRG-8813. Keywords:FRG-8813, Gastroprotection, Histamine H2-receptor antagonist, Capsaicin-sensitive nerve, Antiulcer drug Successful peptic ulcer therapy depends on the restoration of the compromised integrity of the gastroduodenal mucosa by either reducing the aggressive factors or enhancing the defensive process in the mucosa. This has been mainly accomplished by reducing intraluminal acid with an histamine H2-receptor antagonist for more than 10 years. The histamine H2-receptor antagonists are among the most frequently employed drugs worldwide, and their leading position can be explained by their proven high antisecretory potency (1, 2). However, numerous reports showed that the incidence of ulcer relapse after discontinuation of the histamine H2-receptor antagonist reaches the same level as that in patients receiving a placebo (3 -5). From these viewpoints, further improvement in ulcer therapy, with regard to quality of ulcer healing and/or ulcer relapse, might be achieved if the agent could enhance the mucosal defensive capacity in addition to decreasing gastric acid secretion.The property of agents that protect the gastric mucosa against necrotizing agents such as ethanol was defined as so-called "cytoprotection"by Robert et al. (6). Subsequent observations demonstrated that although the gastric cells localized deep in the mu...

No abstract

Lafutidine is a new type antiulcer agent with antisecretory and gastroprotective activities. We investigated the effect of lafutidine on indomethacin-induced antral ulcer in refed rats. Subcutaneous indomethacin injection resulted in the formation of gastric antral ulcer. Lafutidine (1-10 mg/kg, p.o.) reduced the area of ulcer in a dose-dependent manner when administered immediately after the indomethacin injection. Capsaicin at 3 mg/kg, p.o. and 16,16-dimethyl prostaglandin E2 at 3 microg/kg, p.o. also reduced the ulcer area. Chemical deafferentation of capsaicin-sensitive neurons or N(G)-nitro-L-arginine treatment aggravated the ulcer formation and abolished the preventive effect of lafutidine and capsaicin. After the induction of gastric ulcer, lafutidine given twice daily for 2.5 days reduced the area of ulcer in a dose-dependent manner with a significant effect at 10 mg/kg, p.o., as compared with that of the control group. In chemically-deafferentated rats, lafutidine did not show any healing effect. Cimetidine (30 mg/kg, p.o.) and famotidine (1 mg/kg, p.o.) had no significant effect on indomethacin-induced antral ulcer. These results may suggest that lafutidine, unlike cimetidine and famotidine, can prevent the indomethacin-induced antral ulcer formation and accelerate the healing of the ulcer in refed rats through mechanisms involving the capsaicin-sensitive afferent neurons and nitric oxide.

No abstract

Lafutidine (CAS 118288-08-7, FRG-8813) is a novel histamine H2-receptor antagonist with gastroprotective activity. The aim of this study was to investigate the property of the gastro-protective activity of lafutidine by examining the effect on ammonia-induced change in transmucosal potential difference (PD), basal gastric mucosal blood flow (GMBF) and noxious agent-induced cell damage. Intragastrical application of lafutidine accelerated the recovery of the PD reduction after exposure of the mucosa to 0.25% ammonia solution and the accelerating effect was abolished by chemical deafferentation, but not with indometacin, a cyclooxygenase inhibitor. The application of capsaicin, as a reference compound, significantly promoted the recovery of the ammonia-induced PD reduction and this effect was not altered with indometacin. Lafutidine given intragastrically caused a sustained increase in GMBF in a dose-dependent fashion, which was also completely inhibited in the deafferentated rats. In vitro studies revealed that, in contrast to 16,16-dimethyl prostaglandin E2, lafutidine did not protect isolated gastric superficial epithelial cells from ethanol- or ammonia-induced damage. In conclusion, the gastroprotection of lafutidine is induced by promoting the restitution of the damaged mucosa after a noxious agent, not by directly protecting the epithelial cells and this effect may be caused through the mechanism of capsaicin-sensitive afferent nerves.