Pharmacological Assessment of Sepiapterin Reductase Inhibition on Tactile Response in the Rat
作者:James T. Meyer、Brian A. Sparling、William J. McCarty、Maosheng Zhang、Marcus Soto、Stephen Schneider、Hao Chen、Jonathan Roberts、Helming Tan、Thomas Kornecook、Paul S. Andrews、Charles G. Knutson
DOI:10.1124/jpet.119.257105
日期:2019.11
There is an unmet medical need for nonopioid pain therapies in human populations; several pathways are under investigation for possible therapeutic intervention. Tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) has received attention recently as a mediator of neuropathic pain. Recent reports have implicated sepiapterin reductase (SPR) in this pain pathway as a regulator of BH4 production. To evaluate the role of SPR inhibition on BH4 reduction, we developed analytical methods to monitor the relationship between the plasma concentration of test article and endogenous pterins and applied these in the rat spinal nerve ligation pain model. Sepiapterin is an endogenous substrate, which accumulates upon inhibition of SPR. In response to a potent inhibitor of SPR, plasma concentrations of sepiapterin increased proportionally with exposure. An indirect-effect pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic model was developed to describe the relationship between the plasma pharmacokinetics of test article and plasma sepiapterin levels in the rat, which was used to determine an in vivo SPR IC50 value. SPR inhibition and mechanical allodynia were assessed coordinately with pterin biomarkers in plasma and at the site of neuronal injury (i.e., dorsal root ganglion). Upon daily oral administration for 3 consecutive days, unbound plasma concentrations of test article exceeded the unbound in vivo rat SPR IC90 throughout the dose intervals, leading to a 60% reduction in BH4 in the dorsal root ganglion. Despite evidence for pharmacological modulation of the BH4 pathway, there was no significant effect on the tactile paw withdrawal threshold relative to vehicle-treated controls.
在人类中,对于非阿片类镇痛药物存在未被满足的医疗需求;目前正研究多条可能用于治疗干预的通路。四氢生物蝶呤(BH4)最近作为一种神经病理性疼痛介质引起了关注。最近的研究报告将塞帕肽还原酶(SPR)与这一疼痛通路联系起来,将其视为调节BH4生成的一种酶。为了评价SPR抑制对BH4减少的作用,我们开发了分析方法来监测试验药物血浆浓度与内源性蝶呤之间的关系,并将其应用于大鼠脊神经结扎疼痛模型中。塞帕蝶呤是一种内源性底物,在SPR被抑制的情况下会累积。在高强度SPR抑制剂的作用下,塞帕蝶呤的血浆浓度与暴露量成比例地增加。我们构建了一个间接效应药代动力学/药效学模型,以描述试验药物血浆药代动力学与大鼠血浆中塞帕蝶呤水平之间的关系,并据此计算体内SPR的IC50值。我们在血浆及神经元损伤部位(即背根神经节)协同评估了SPR抑制、机械异常痛觉及蝶呤生物标志物。连续3天每日口服给药后,试验药物的未结合血浆浓度在整个剂量间隔期内均超过了大鼠体内未结合的SPR的IC90值,从而使背根神经节中的BH4含量减少了60%。尽管有证据表明BH4通路被药理学调控,但与对照组相比,试验组在触觉性爪回缩阈值方面并未表现出显著影响。