Evaluation of in vivo binding properties of 3H-NMPB and 3H-QNB in mouse brain

In vivo characterization of muscarinic receptors in peripheral tissues: evaluation of bladder selectivity of anticholinergic agents to treat overactive bladder

The present study was undertaken to characterize in vivo muscarinic receptors in peripheral tissues (urinary bladder, submaxillary gland, colon, stomach, heart) of mice, and further to evaluate bladder-selectivity of anticholinergic agents to treat overactive bladder. Following i.v. injection of [3H]QNB in mice, the radioactivity in peripheral tissues was exclusively detected as the unchanged form. The in vivo specific [3H]QNB binding in particulate fraction of tissue homogenates of mice showed a pharmacological specificity which characterized muscarinic receptors. Binding parameters (Kd and Bmax) for in vivo specific [3H]QNB binding differed between mouse tissues. Oral administration of oxybutynin attenuated significantly in vivo specific [3H]QNB binding in all tissues of mice. From ratios of AUCurinary bladder/AUCother tissues of time-dependent muscarinic receptor occupancy, oral oxybutynin has been shown to exert little urinary bladder selectivity. Following oral administration of propiverine, there was a significant reduction of in vivo specific [3H]QNB binding in the urinary bladder, colon and submaxillary gland, but not in the stomach and heart. From the ratios of AUCurinary bladder to AUCsubmaxillary gland or AUCheart, it has been shown that oral propiverine exerts higher selectivity to muscarinic receptors in the urinary bladder than in the submaxillary gland and heart. Similarly, tolterodine displayed high selectivity to muscarinic receptors in the urinary bladder than in the submaxillary gland. Thus, the present study has demonstrated that [3H]QNB may be a useful ligand for in vivo characterization of muscarinic receptor binding of anticholinergic agents to treat overactive bladder. Propiverine and tolterodine have exhibited in vivo selectivity of muscarinic receptor in the mouse urinary bladder rather than in the submaxillary gland, and such receptor binding specificity may be the reason of lower incidence of dry mouth.

Binding kinetics of11c-n-methyl piperidyl benzilate (11c-nmpb) in a rhesus monkey brain using the cerebellum as a reference region

The binding kinetics of 11C-N-methyl piperidyl benzilate (11C-NMPB) in rhesus monkey brain were studied using animal positron emission tomography (PET) (SHR2000). This study is intended to assess the validity of the method using the cerebellum as a reference region, and to evaluate the effects of anesthesia on 11C-NMPB binding. Two monkeys, anesthetized with ketamine, received intravenous 11C-NMPB alone (370-760 MBq, < 1 microg/kg) or mixed with varying doses of nonradioactive NMPB (3 microg/kg, 10 microg/kg, 30 microg/kg) and were subjected to PET scans for 60 minutes. Regions of interest (ROI) were drawn on reconstructed PET images and a time-activity curve was obtained for each region. 11C-NMPB accumulated densely in the striatum and cerebral cortex with time. In contrast, the tracer accumulation significantly decreased with increased doses of nonradioactive NMPB. In the cerebellum, on the other hand, the accumulation of 11C-NMPB remained low and the tracer was slowly eliminated from the brain following the injection. 11C-NMPB binding in the cerebellum was barely affected by the increased dose of nonradioactive NMPB. We thus concluded that the specific 11C-NMPB binding was negligible in the cerebellum, and performed simplified evaluation of 11C-NMPB binding in each brain region by a graphical method using the cerebellum as a reference region. PET was conducted 26 times, in total both in ketamine-anesthetized and awake monkeys (n = 3 each). Measurements of 11C-NMPB binding showed good run-to-run reproducibility within individual animals. When 11C-NMPB binding was compared between ketamine-treated and awake animals, a significant increase in 11C-NMPB binding was observed in the striatum but not in other brain regions of ketamine-treated animals.

Discrepancy between cell injury and benzodiazepine receptor binding after transient middle cerebral artery occlusion in rats

We investigated postischemic alterations in benzodiazepine receptor, D1 dopamine receptor, and muscarinic acetylcholine receptor binding after transient middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion in rats using [3H]-flumazenil, [3H]-SCH23390, and [3H]-N-methyl-4-piperidyl benzilate ([3H]-NMPB), respectively, as radioligand. These ligand bindings were determined at 3 and 24 h and at 3 and 7 days after ischemia/reperfusion of MCA by using autoradiographic methods. Ischemic cell injury was clearly detected from 3 h after ischemia/reperfusion and progressively increased from 3-24 h after ischemia/reperfusion of MCA. The area of cell injury reached maximum at 24 h after ischemia/reperfusion of MCA. [3H]-SCH23390 binding was reduced to 47% of the contralateral side at 3 days after ischemia/reperfusion of MCA. After 7 days, [3H]-SCH23390 binding was further reduced by 20% in the striatum. [3H]-NMPB binding was slightly decreased in both the striatum and cerebral cortex at 3 days after ischemia/reperfusion of MCA, and [3H]-NMPB binding in the striatum and cerebral cortex were reduced to 42 and 62% of the contralateral side at 7 days after ischemia/reperfusion of MCA. [3H]-NMPB was also decreased at 24 h. In contrast, [3H]-flumazenil binding was not decreased in the striatum and cerebral cortex within 7 days after ischemia/reperfusion of MCA. These results suggest that [3H]-SCH23390 and [3H]-NMPB binding do not correlate with cell injury by ischemia/reperfusion, although vulnerability to ischemia/reperfusion was observed with these receptors. In addition, central benzodiazepine receptor imaging might be essentially stable to neuronal cell injury induced by transient focal cerebral ischemia in rats, in contrast to the results of PET studies.

Sensitivities of benzodiazepine receptor binding and muscarinic acetylcholine receptor binding for the detection of neural cell death caused by sodium nitroprusside microinjection in rat brain

Sodium nitroprusside (SNP) was microinjected into rat cerebral cortex and changes in muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) binding and benzodiazepine receptor (BZR) binding were followed for 24 h after the infusion using [(3)H]-N-methyl-4-piperidyl benzilate ([(3)H]-NMPB) and [(3)H]-flumazenil, respectively, as a radioligand. The microinjection of SNP dose-dependently caused significant neural cell death 3 h after infusion, with the area of cell death becoming extensive 24 h after infusion. Neither SIN-1 nor NOC-18, other types of NO donors, caused neural cell death. Together with the result that deferoxamine, an iron-chelating agent, protected SNP-induced brain injury indicated important roles of iron-related radicals in SNP cytotoxicity in rat brain. In vitro [(3)H]-NMPB binding was significantly reduced in parallel with the time course of neural cell death detected by TTC staining and Nissl staining. In contrast, [(3)H]-flumazenil binding was essentially unaltered during the 24-h period after the SNP infusion. Similar results were observed in in vivo binding experiments. In vivo [(3)H]-NMPB binding was found to be much more sensitive at detecting cell death caused by SNP. On the other hand, [(3)H]-flumazenil binding in vivo was relatively insensitive to SNP-induced cell death. These results indicate that mAChR binding may be superior to BZR binding for detecting cell death in brain tissue, in contrast to what was previously thought.

Effect of sabcomeline on muscarinic and dopamine receptor binding in intact mouse brain

Sabcomeline [(R-(Z)-(+)-alpha-(methoxyiamino)-1-azabicyclo[2.2.2]octane-3-acetonitrile)] is a potent and functionally selective muscarinic M1 receptor partial agonist. However, little is known of the binding properties of sabcomeline under in vivo conditions. In this study, muscarinic receptor occupancy by sabcomeline in mouse brain regions and heart was estimated using [3H]quinuclidinyl benzilate (QNB) and [3H]N-methylpiperidyl benzilate (NMPB) as radioligands. In the cerebral cortex, hippocampus, and striatum, the estimated IC50 value of sabcomeline for [3H]NMPB binding was almost 0.2 mg/kg. Sabcomeline was not a selective ligand to M1 receptors as compared with biperiden in vivo. In the cerebral cortex, maximum receptor occupancy was observed about 1 hr after intravenous injection of sabcomeline (0.3 mg/kg), and the binding availability of mACh receptors had almost returned to the control level by 3-4 hr. These findings indicated that the binding kinetics of sabcomeline is rather rapid in mouse brain. Examination of dopamine D2 receptor binding revealed that sabcomeline affected the kinetics of both [3H]raclopride and [3H]N-methylspiperone (NMSP) binding in the striatum. It significantly decreased the k3 and k4 of [3H]raclopride binding resulting in an increase in binding potential (BP = k3/k4 = Bmax/Kd) in sabcomeline-treated mice, and an approximately 15% decrease in k3 of [3H]NMSP binding was also observed. Although the mechanism is still unclear, sabcomeline altered dopamine D2 receptor affinity or availability by modulations via neural networks.