1 The present study investigated the effect of streptozotocin-induced diabetes on alpha(1)-adrenoceptor subtypes in rat renal resistance vessels. 2 Studies on renal haemodynamics were carried out 7 days after the last streptozotocin. Changes in renal blood flow were recorded in response to electrical stimulation of the renal nerve (RNS) and a range of adrenergic agonists; noradrenaline (NA), phenylephrine (PE) and methoxamine (MTX), either in the absence or the presence of nitrendipine (Nit), 5-methylurapidil (MEU), chlorethylclonidine (CEC) or BMY 7378. 3 In non-diabetic animals, Nit, MEU and BMY 7378 significantly attenuated renal vasoconstriction induced by adrenergic agonists, while CEC showed a significant accentuation in RNS-induced responses without having a significant effect on responses to adrenergic agonists. In diabetic rats, renal vasoconstriction was also significantly reduced in Nit-, MEU- and BMY 7378-treated groups and CEC potentiated RNS-induced contractions caused a change similar to that observed in non-diabetic rats. BMY 7378 significantly (P < 0.05) attenuated the PE- and MTX-induced vasoconstrictions but did not cause any significant (P > 0.05) alteration in the RNS- and NA-induced responses. 4 The results showed functional co-existence of alpha(1A)- and alpha(1D)-adrenoceptors in the renal vasculature of SD rats irrespective of the presence of diabetes. A possible minor contribution of prejunctional alpha-adrenoceptor subtype has also been suggested in either experimental group, particularly possible functional involvement of alpha(1B)-adrenoceptor subtypes in non-diabetic SD rats.
This study investigated the role of α1D-adrenoceptor in the modulation of renal haemodynamics in rats with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). LVH was established in Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats with isoprenaline (5.0 mg · (kg body mass)(-1), by subcutaneous injection every 72 h) and caffeine (62 mg · L(-1) in drinking water, daily for 14 days). Renal vasoconstrictor responses were measured for noradrenaline (NA), phenylephrine (PE), and methoxamine (ME) before and immediately after low or high dose intrarenal infusions of BMY 7378, a selective α1D-adrenoceptor blocker. The rats with LVH had higher mean arterial blood pressure and circulating NA levels, but lower renal cortical blood perfusion compared with the control group (all P < 0.05). In the LVH group, the magnitude of the renal vasoconstrictor response to ME was blunted, but not the response to NA or PE (P < 0.05), compared with the control group (LVH vs. C, 38% vs. 50%). The magnitude of the drop in the vasoconstrictor responses to NA, PE, and ME in the presence of a higher dose of BMY 7378 was significantly greater in the LVH group compared with the control group (LVH vs. C, 45% vs. 25% for NA, 52% vs. 33% for PE, 66% vs. 53% for ME, all P < 0.05). These findings indicate an impaired renal vasoconstrictor response to adrenergic agonists during LVH. In addition, the α1D-adrenoceptor subtype plays a key role in the modulation of vascular responses in this diseased state.
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra of the human brain, leading to depletion of dopamine production. Dopamine replacement therapy remains the mainstay for attenuation of PD symptoms. Nonetheless, the potential benefit of current pharmacotherapies is mostly limited by adverse side effects, such as drug-induced dyskinesia, motor fluctuations and psychosis. Non-dopaminergic receptors, such as human A2A adenosine receptors, have emerged as important therapeutic targets in potentiating therapeutic effects and reducing the unwanted side effects. In this study, new chemical entities targeting both human A2A adenosine receptor and dopamine D2 receptor were designed and evaluated. Two computational methods, namely support vector machine (SVM) models and Tanimoto similarity-based clustering analysis, were integrated for the identification of compounds containing indole-piperazine-pyrimidine (IPP) scaffold. Subsequent synthesis and testing resulted in compounds 5 and 6, which acted as human A2A adenosine receptor binders in the radioligand competition assay (Ki = 8.7-11.2 μM) as well as human dopamine D2 receptor binders in the artificial cell membrane assay (EC50 = 22.5-40.2 μM). Moreover, compound 5 showed improvement in movement and mitigation of the loss of dopaminergic neurons in Drosophila models of PD. Furthermore, in vitro toxicity studies on compounds 5 and 6 did not reveal any mutagenicity (up to 100 μM), hepatotoxicity (up to 30 μM) or cardiotoxicity (up to 30 μM).