Search results for "choline"

Liposomes as nonspecific nanocarriers for 5-Fluorouracil in the presence of cyclodextrins

2021

Abstract 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is one of anticancer drugs with broad activity. Due to its severe side effects, recent studies concentrate on new ways of directed 5-FU delivery and its release in ill tissue. One of selective carriers could be cyclodextrins and liposomes. The combination of novel methods, leading to formation of inclusion complexes (IC) between host molecule of β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) or 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD) and 5-FU guest and its subsequent encapsulation in dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) liposomes is studied experimentally in the present work. Several methods are applied to proof the encapsulation of the analysed drug and its release over time at 37 …

Conformational Isomerism in Drug Action: Does the Free Energy of Binding Induce the Pharmacophoric Conformation of Semi-Rigid Muscarinic Agonists?

1974

The physiological neurotransmitter Acetylcholine has been shown to have great molecular flexibility, and because of this, the possibility of forming numerous energetically different conformations. This property makes the determination of the biologically active conformation extremely complicated. In attempts to solve this problem various research groups have tried two basically different approaches: (1) (1) The determination of the energetically most stable conformation using crystallographic methods (X-ray diffraction studies), nuclear magnetic resonance and quantum-mechanical calculations [1–16]. Same workers hypothesized that the energetically most favourable form was also the biological…

Mboat7 down-regulation by hyper-insulinemia induces fat accumulation in hepatocytes.

2020

Background: Naturally occurring variation in Membrane-bound O-acyltransferase domain-containing 7 (MBOAT7), encoding for an enzyme involved in phosphatidylinositol acyl-chain remodelling, has been associated with fatty liver and hepatic disorders. Here, we examined the relationship between hepatic Mboat7 down-regulation and fat accumulation. Methods: Hepatic MBOAT7 expression was surveyed in 119 obese individuals and in experimental models. MBOAT7 was acutely silenced by antisense oligonucleotides in C57Bl/6 mice, and by CRISPR/Cas9 in HepG2 hepatocytes. Findings: In obese individuals, hepatic MBOAT7 mRNA decreased from normal liver to steatohepatitis, independently of diabetes, inflammatio…

Pre-invasion history and demography shape the genetic variation in the insecticide resistance-related acetylcholinesterase 2 gene in the invasive Col…

2012

Abstract Background Invasive pest species offers a unique opportunity to study the effects of genetic architecture, demography and selection on patterns of genetic variability. Invasive Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) populations have experienced a rapid range expansion and intense selection by insecticides. By comparing native and invasive beetle populations, we studied the origins of organophosphate (OP) resistance-associated mutations in the acetylcholinesterase 2 (AChE2) gene, and the role of selection and demography on its genetic variability. Results Analysis of three Mexican, two US and five European populations yielded a total of 49 haplotypes. Contrary to the exp…

Impaired formation of the inner retina in an AChE knockout mouse results in degeneration of all photoreceptors

2004

Blinding diseases can be assigned predominantly to genetic defects of the photoreceptor/pigmented epithelium complex. As an alternative, we show here for an acetylcholinesterase (AChE) knockout mouse that photoreceptor degeneration follows an impaired development of the inner retina. During the first 15 postnatal days of the AChE-/- retina, three major calretinin sublaminae of the inner plexiform layer (IPL) are disturbed. Thereby, processes of amacrine and ganglion cells diffusely criss-cross throughout the IPL. In contrast, parvalbumin cells present a nonlaminar IPL pattern in the wild-type, but in the AChE-/- mouse their processes become structured within two 'novel' sublaminae. During t…

Role of nitric oxide synthase isoforms for ophthalmic artery reactivity in mice.

2014

Abstract Nitric oxide synthases (NOS) are involved in regulation of ocular vascular tone and blood flow. While endothelial NOS (eNOS) has recently been shown to mediate endothelium-dependent vasodilation in mouse retinal arterioles, the contribution of individual NOS isoforms to vascular responses is unknown in the retrobulbar vasculature. Moreover, it is unknown whether the lack of a single NOS isoform affects neuron survival in the retina. Thus, the goal of the present study was to examine the hypothesis that the lack of individual nitric oxide synthase (NOS) isoforms affects the reactivity of mouse ophthalmic arteries and neuron density in the retinal ganglion cell (RGC) layer. Mice defi…

Therapeutic modulation of lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2)

2011

Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) is a calcium-independent phospholipase A2 that circulates in plasma in association with lipoprotein particles, whereas in atherosclerotic plaques it is co-localized with macrophages. Lp-PLA2 generates two proinflammatory mediators, lysophosphatidylcholine and oxidized nonesterified fatty acids, which play a role in the development of atherosclerotic lesions and formation of a necrotic core, leading to more vulnerable plaques. Epidemiologic studies demonstrate that increased circulating levels of Lp-PLA2 predict an increased risk of myocardial infarction, stroke and cardiovascular mortality. Furthermore, histologic examination of diseased hum…

Von der symptomatischen zur kausalen Therapie?

2009

Until today the pharmacological therapy of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is still limited to symptomatic temporary improvement or stabilization of cognitive performance and activities of daily living, and the reduction of neuropsychiatric symptoms of the disease. Available symptomatic treatment options are the acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (ACh-I) donepezil, galantamine, rivastigmine, and the partial N-Methyl-D-Aspartat-(NMDA)-antagonist memantine. Further substances with symptomatic targets, especially selective acetylcholine and histamine receptors, are currently under development. Numerous of disease-modifying substances mainly targeting components of the amyloidogenic pathway of AD are pre…

2021

Four drugs are currently approved for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) by the FDA. Three of these drugs—donepezil, rivastigmine, and galantamine—belong to the class of acetylcholine esterase inhibitors. Memantine, a NMDA receptor antagonist, represents the fourth and a combination of donepezil and memantine the fifth treatment option. Recently, the gut and its habitants, its microbiome, came into focus of AD research and added another important factor to therapeutic considerations. While the first data provide evidence that AD patients might carry an altered microbiome, the influence of administered drugs on gut properties and commensals have been largely ignored so far. However, t…

Galantamine is an allosterically potentiating ligand of the human α4/β2 nAChR

2000

Galantamine (ReminyI ) is a novel drug treatment for mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD). Originally established as a reversible inhibitor of the acetylcholine-degrading enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE), galantamine also acts as an allosterically potentiating ligand (APL) on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR). Having previously established this second mode of action on nAChRs from murine brain, we demonstrate here the same action of galantamine on the most abundant nAChR in the human brain, the α4/β2 subtype. This nAChR-sensitizing action is not a common property of all, or most, AChE inhibitors, as is shown by the absence of this effect for other therapeutically applied AChE…