Browsing by discipline "Farmakologia"

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are ligand-gated ion channel receptors which are widely distributed in human brain. nAChRs are often expressed pre-synaptically and they modulate the release of other neurotransmitters. nAChRs consist of five subunits: nine different subunits have been identified so far, forming multiple different nAChR subtypes with different pharmacological properties. nAChRs participate extensively in physiological functions and pathophysiological conditions. nAChRs mediate the effects of endogenous agonist, acetylcholine, as well as commonly used substance of abuse, nicotine. Addictive drugs such as nicotine and opioids cause adaptive changes in central nervous system. In addition to binding site of acetylcholine, various allosteric binding sites have been identified in nAChRs. Allosteric ligands are able to modulate the effect of agonist by binding to allosteric binding site. The aim of the experimental part of the pro gradu was to study in vitro interactions of nicotine and three different opioids, codeine, oxycodone and tramadol in SH-SY5Y cells. SH-SY5Y cells express endogenously α3* and α7-nAChRs. Binding assays were performed with radioactive ligand [3H]-epibatidine. Functional interactions of nicotine and the opioids were studied with 86Rb+- efflux assay. Codeine, oxycodone and tramadol exhibited receptor level interactions with nicotine in SH-SY5Y cells. Observed interactions were mediated by nAChRs. The opioids inhibited nAChR activation caused by nicotine without binding to the [3H]-epibatide binding site. Codeine, oxycodone and tramadol appear to affect as weak non-competitive antagonists of nAChRs. These results give further information of nicotine-opioid interactions at receptor level. There are indications that nicotine and opioids also have interactions in vivo, which may be partly explained with these receptor level interactions.

Smoking is one of the major causes for premature deaths worldwide. Tobacco smoke contains nicotine, which activates the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) expressed by the human body. nAChRs are part of the cholinergic system and its endogenous neurotransmitter is acetylcholine. The nAChRs are excitatory and the often regulate the release of other neurotransmitters. Nicotine is one of the most addicting compounds known. The rewarding effects of nicotine are mediated through the activation of the mesolimbic dopamine pathway. The mesolimbic pathway is triggered also by the compounds activating the endogenous opioid system thus mediating the rewarding effects and opioid addiction. The nicotine - opioid interactions have been widely studied. It is observed that majority of opioid abusers and patients receiving opioid replacement therapy are smokers. It has been also detected that nicotine releases endogenous opioid peptides in vivo in the brain regions mediating both addiction and analgesia. In addition, the rewarding effect of nicotine attenuates in opioid receptor knock-out rodents. Furthermore, it has been observed that nicotine's rewarding effects can be reduced with opioid receptor antagonists. In order to prevent smoking's negative effects the use opioid antagonists for smoking cessation has been clinically researched with poor results. Many of the opioids in clinical use have diverse and direct interaction with the nAChRs in vitro. E.g. it has been observed that methadone and morphine have an effect on the function of the nAChRs. This may explain partially the smoking behaviour of replacement therapy patients. Opioids are prescribed mainly for the treatment of moderate to intense pain. Nicotine is too found to be analgesic in vivo but in humans its analgesic effect has been questionable. In the experimental part of thesis binding and functional interactions with human's α4β2-nAChR expressed by SH-EP1-hα4β2 cell line was researched with clinically commonly used opioids codeine, oxycodone and tramadol. Competitive binding was studied using [3H]-epibatidine binding assay and the functional effects were studied using 86Rb+-efflux assay. The results suggest that oxycodone and tramadol act as weak competitive antagonists of α4β2-nAChR in vitro in concentrations that are clinically irrelevant. According to the results, however, codeine acts as positive allosteric modulator of α4β2-nAChR potentiating the effects of nicotine in micromolar concentrations. The effect is similar to galantamine, used in treatment of Alzheimer's disease. The clinical relevance of codeine's potentiating nicotine's effect on the function of α4β2-nAChR cannot be estimated according to the results from these studies. Therefore, in order to confirm the results experiments with codeine need to be done in vivo using e.g. α4- and β2-knock-out mice in order to clarify α4β2-nAChR's role in the analgesic and rewarding effects of codeine. However, the results from the experimental part provide valuable information on the interactions of nicotine and opioids. Results from studies conducted with α4β2-nAChRs have not been published enough to determine the importance of the phenomenon in i.a. drug addiction and analgesia.

Tutkimus on kirjallisuuskatsaus, jossa on selvitetty parantaako päätöksentuki (clinical decision support system, CDSS) eli tietokoneavusteinen tietojärjestelmä kliinistä päätöksentekoa, ja miten se vaikuttaa kustannuksiin, sairastavuuteen, kuolleisuuteen ja lääkäri-potilasvuorovaikutussuhteeseen. Lisäksi tutkimus selvittää, mitkä tekijät parantavat ja mitkä heikentävät päätöksentuen vaikuttavuutta. Päätöksentuki vähentää sairastavuutta, saattaa vähentää kustannuksia, vähentää lääkitysvirheitä mutta ei vaikuta kuolleisuuteen. Päätöksentuesta välittyvä hyöty potilaille on vähäistä. Päätöksentuen vaikuttavuutta parantavat tekijät, jotka helpottavat kliinikon työskentelyä. Näitä ovat käyttäjien automaattinen kehottaminen päätöksentuen käyttöön, valmiiden hoitosuositusten ehdottaminen pelkkien arviointien sijaan, automaattinen päätöksentuki kliinisen työn aikana, päätöksentuki päätöksenteon hetkellä ja tietokoneavusteinen päätöksentuki. Päätöksentuen vaikuttavuutta heikentää hälytysuupumus, jota voi vähentää poistamalla kliinisesti merkityksettömät lääkeyhteisvaikutusvaroitukset. Tulevaisuudessa tarvitaan vielä lisää tietoa päätöksenteon vaikuttavuudesta etenkin kuolleisuuteen ja kustannuksiin.

Parkinson's disease is characterized primarily as a bradykinetic disorder with severe nigral cell loss. In addition to motor symptoms, up to 85 % of patients with Parkinson's disease experience pain and in about 60 % of cases pain is related to Parkinson's disease. Most of it is classified as musculoskeletal pain. Bradykinesia and muscle cramps lead to pain by causing malpositions of joints and trunk. Up to 40 % of parkinson patients experience pain caused by dystonia. Neuritic or radicular pain is also related to Parkinson's disease. Less than 10 % of patients have primary central pain. Pain threshold and nociceptive flexon reflex threshold are lower among patients with Parkinson's disease than in healthy subjects. Common comorbidities, namely restless legs syndrome and depression can also exacerbate pain. The pathology of pain in patients is not well understood. It is known that basal ganglia take part in pain perception and modulation. Lesions in basal ganglia can interfere pain perception and cause the exacerbation of pain. The modulation of pain in central nervous system is altered and descending inhibitory tracts are thought to work insufficiently. Levodopa alleviates the pain in about 60 % of patients with Parkinson's disease suffering from pain. Levodopa normalizes dopamine function at least partly in basal ganglia and that way alleviates the pain caused by dysfunction of dopamine tracts. Levodopa relieves motor symptoms and so alleviates the secondary pain caused by muscle cramps and stiffness. Levodopa raises the pain thresholds of patients to normal level. Levodopa may have also a direct analgesic effect via dopamine D2 receptor activation. The mutations of the gene that codes catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) change its activity and are related to pain perception. Low COMT activity is related to several functional differences including increased sensitivity to pain and increased response to opioids. Also COMT inhibitors sensitize mice and rats to pain. The mechanism underlying the sensitization is not well understood. We examined the effects of COMT gene disruption and COMT inhibition in acute pain models. In the first part of our study, we examined the effect of COMT inhibitor OR-486 in COMT deficient mice. We tried to clarify wether sensitization to pain is caused by COMT inhibition or some other mechanism. We also tested the effects of endogenous opioids (swim stress) and exogenous opioid (morphine) in COMT deficient mice. In the second part, we tested the effects of an atypical COMT inhibitor CGP 28014 in acute pain models. CGP 28014 does not inhibit COMT in vitro but it inhibits the Omethylation of catecholamines in vivo. The main finding of our study was the sensitization to pain caused by CGP 28014. The result gives support to hypothesis claiming that sensitization to pain is caused by O-methylation of catecholamines. The results of our study are also in line with the theory that low COMT activity is related to pain sensitization and increased response to opioids.

Obesity is considered one of the major public health challenges. One way to control obesity is to regulate appetite. Because brain is the primary regulative unit responsible for food intake, the research in this field has now been allocated especially to the central nervous system. The aim of this thesis was to clarify the role of cholinergic projections from pedunculopontine tegmentum (PPT) to lateral hypothalamus (LH) in food intake. In this study, DREADD-technology (designed receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs) based on chemogenetics was utilized with a gene manipulated mouse strain. For the experimental part of this work the mice were divided in three separate groups: one transducted with an activating DREADD-receptor (hM3Dq), one transducted with an inhibiting DREADD-receptor (hM4Di) and one transducted only with a fluorescent protein called m-Cherry. The last group was also defined as a control group of this study. In addition, the gene which coded m-Cherry fluorescent protein was transducted together with hM3Dq- and hM4Di-receptor genes for the first two groups to be able to examine the receptor expression later. At the baseline level, no differences were observed in food intake between the three study groups. The food intake did not differ between the groups while clozapine-N-oxide (CNO), a selective DREADD-receptor ligand, was administered straight into the LH area (0,03 µg/injection) with or without fasting of the animals. While administrating CNO to the mice intraperitoneally (1 mg/kg), the hM3Dq-group mice were observed to consume more food compared to the hM4Di-group or the control group. This difference was detected while food consumption was examined cumulatively during total four measuring hours. When the animals were fasted before the intraperitoneal administration test, however no differences were found between the study groups regarding food intake. As a conclusion of this study, cholinergic projections from pedunculopontine tegmentum (PPT) to lateral hypothalamus (LH) were not regulating food intake in mice. However, the cholinergic cells in PPT and some of their axons might be involved in the regulation of food intake while the food consumption is studied continuously and long-term. More studies are required to better define the role of the cholinergic projections from pedunculopontine tegmentum (PPT) to lateral hypothalamus (LH) in food intake.

Angiogenesis may be regarded as one of the most important phenomena involved in basic physiology as well as in numerous pathological conditions. Angiogenesis is a multistep process involving the balance of pro- and con-angiogenic factors. Several studies have suggested that angiogenesis is regulated in vitro and in vivo by peptides thymosin ȕ4 (Tȕ4) and tetrapeptide Ac-SDKP (N-acetyl-seryl-aspartyl-lysyl-proline). There are also studies supporting the view that Ac-SDKP, a peptide fragment is released from the proline-containing C-terminus of Tȕ4 (43-mer) by hydrolyzing prolyl oligopeptidase (POP). POP is a widely existing serine protease cleaving oligopeptides of no longer than 30 amino acids. Thus, Tȕ4 should first be cleaved into a shorter peptide by some other, yet unknown peptidase. POP has been mostly studied in memory and learning disorders as well as in neurodegenerative diseases. The true physiological character of POP is still unresolved. In this Master's thesis, the associations of the factors involved in angiogenesis are reviewed in the literature part as well as the character, presence and function of the angiogenic molecules 7ȕ4, Ac-SDKP and POP. In the experimental part attempts were made to find whether POP and Tȕ4 increase Ac-SDKP formation and capillary tube network and consequently, whether the POP activity, tetrapeptide and capillary formation could be inhibited by the proline-spesific POP inhibitor KYP-2047. The study had two phases. The first phase included POP activity and Ac-SDKP measurements(time period 0-180 min) with Wistar rat kidney homogenates. Study groups were 0,1 and 0,5 µM KYP-2047 (+2 µM Tȕ4), 1:20 (0.625 µM) human recombinant POP (+ 2 µM Tȕ4), 2 µM 7ȕ4 (pos. control) and raw homogenate (neg. control). The second phase involved the study of capillary formation (time period 0-180 min) with primary endothelial HUVECs on a 48-well plate seeded with 50 000 cells/well on an extracellular membrane mimicking MatrigelTM Matrix dissolved in DMEM. Study groups treated with fetal bovine serum and antibiotics were 5 and 10 µM KYP-2047 (+4 µM Tȕ4), 1:20 (0.625 µM) human recombinant POP (+4 µM Tȕ4)4 µM Tȕ4 (pos. control) and DMEM (neg. control). The wells were cultured and capillary formation photographed with a light microscope using a digital camera. All experiments were repeated four times, and each study group in wells was measured in triplicate. Enclosed capillaries were counted manually and statistical tests were performed. 7ȕ4 along with POP participated in the formation of AC-SDKP in the kidney homogenates. Cultures of primary endothelial cells on Matrigel resulted in clear capillary formation in Tȕ4 and POP groups. KYP-2047 had a strong POP-inhibitory activity on antiangiogenesis throughout the study resulting. Obviously, underlying mechanisms of angiogenesis and the function of the interaction between POP, Tȕ4 and Ac-SDKP in capillary formation require further studies.

Prolyl oligopeptidase (POP, prolyl endopeptidase, EC 3.4.21.26) is a serine-type peptidase (family S9 of clan SC) hydrolyzing peptides shorter than 30 amino acids. POP has been found in various mammalian and bacterial sources and it is widely distributed throughout different organisms. In human and rat, POP enzyme activity has been detected in most tissues, with the highest activity found mostly in the brain. POP has gained scientific interest as being involved in the hydrolyzis of many bioactive peptides connected with learning and memory functions, and also with neurodegenerative disorders. In drug or lesion induced amnesia models and in aged rodents, POP inhibitors have been able to revert memory loss. POP may have a fuction in IP3 signaling and it may be a possible target of mood stabilizing substances. POP may also have a role in protein trafficking, sorting and secretion. The role of POP during ontogeny has not yet been resolved. POP enzyme activity and expression have shown fluctuation during development. Specially high enzyme activities have been measured in the brain during early development. Reduced neuronal proliferation and differentation in presence of POP inhibitor have been reported. Nuclear POP has been observed in proliferating peripheral tissues and in cell cultures at the early stage of development. Also, POP coding mRNA is abundantly expressed during brain ontogeny and the highest levels of expression are associated with proliferative germinal matrices. This observation indicates a special role for POP in the regulation of neurogenesis during development. For the experimental part, the study was undertaken to investigate the expression and distribution of POP protein and enzymatic activity of POP in developing rat brain (from embryonic day 14 to post natal day 7) using immunohistochemistry, POP enzyme activity measurements and western blot-analysis. The aim was also to find in vivo confirmation of the nuclear colocalization of POP during early brain ontogeny. For immunohistochemistry, cryosections from the brains of the fetuses/rats were made and stained using specific antibody for POP and fluorescent markers for POP and nuclei. The enzyme activity assay was based on the fluorescence of 7- amino-4-methylcoumarin (AMC) generated from the fluorogenic substrate succinyl-glycyl-prolyl-7-amino-4-methylcoumarin (Suc-Gly-Pro-AMC) by POP. The amounts of POP protein and the specifity of POP antibody in rat embryos was confirmed by western blot analysis. We observed that enzymatic activity of POP is highest at embryonic day 18 while the protein amounts reach their peak at birth. POP was widely present throughout the developmental stages from embryonic day 14 to parturition day, although the POP-immunoreactivity varied abundantly. At embryonic days 14 and 18 notably amounts of POP was distributed at proliferative germinal zones. Furthermore, POP was located in the nucleus early in the development but is transferred to cytosol before birth. At P0 and P7 the POP-immunoreactivity was also widely observed, but the amount of POP was notably reduced at P7. POP was present in cytosol and in intercellular space, but no nuclear POP was observed. These findings support the idea of POP being involved in specific brain functions, such as neuronal proliferation and differentation. Our results in vivo confirm the previous cell culture results supporting the role of POP in neurogenesis. Moreover, an inconsistency of POP protein amounts and enzymatic activity late in the development suggests a strong regulation of POP activity and a possible non-hydrolytic role at that stage.

Prolyl oligopeptidase (PREP) is a serine protease which is extensively present in the mammalian system and especially abundant in the brain. Despite the long research history of PREP its physiological function has remained unclear. PREP has been suggested to regulate the functions of many bioactive peptides by hydrolysis and on the other hand to participate in several intracellular processes probably via direct protein-protein interactions. One of the functions suggested for PREP is the regulation of the brain neurotransmitter systems and based on, for instance, the location in the brain PREP has been connected to both excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitter systems. The literature review of this thesis first describe the brain neurotransmitter systems associated to PREP in general with some examples of diseases related to their malfunctions. In addition the structure of PREP and its location in the brain, both subcellular and cellular levels, and in distinct neurotransmitter systems, are presented, after which the different proposed functions for PREP are reviewed. The aim of the experimental part of this thesis was to investigate the effects of PREP on the brain neurotransmitter concentrations in the mouse nigrostriatal pathway and also to mouse motor behavior. The main research methods were microdialysis, tissue assays and cylinder test. The study was composed of two sections with five week duration each. The first section was performed with wild-type mice expressing naturally PREP and the second section with PREP-knockout (ko) mice and their wild-type littermates. The mice were injected unilaterally above the substantia nigra with adeno associated (AAV1) hPREP viral vector or with AAV1-eGFP (green fluorescent protein) viral vector as a control treatment. The cylinder test was carried out before the injection, and two and four weeks afterwards. Microdialysis was used to study the actions of PREP on the extracellular concentrations of dopamine (DA) and its metabolites dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) and homovanillic acid (HVA), gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), the major metabolite of serotonin (5-HT). In addition to the baseline assay the concentrations were measured after two amphetamine treatments (10 and 30 µM) administered via the microdialysis probe. The probe guide cannulas were inserted to mice striatums 1-2 weeks before the microdialysis measurement. In the end of the experiment the tissue concentrations of DA, DOPAC, HVA, 5-HT and 5-HIAA were measured from striatum and substantia nigra. Both the microdialysis and tissue sample concentrations were quantified with high performance liquid chromatography. In the first study section the PREP enzyme activity was also determined from striatum. Neither the complete deprivation nor over-expression of PREP in the nigrostriatal pathway had clear or consistent effects on the levels of neurotransmitters studied when compared to naturally occurring PREP expression. When comparing the differences between control treated groups of PREP-ko and littermate mice, a greater amphetamine stimulated DA-levels was seen in the former group proposing negative regulatory influence of PREP. In both study sections the tissue assay results were difficult to interpret due to observed responses also with AAV1-eGFP control treatment in comparison with untreated side of the brain. This was seen as a lower DA- and DOPAC-levels in substantia nigra and thus the meaning of the changes caused by PREP treatment is hard to comprehend. The results of the cylinder test may implicate some protective effect of the PREP-ko-genotype against viral vector injections in general. Then again the existence of compensatory mechanisms is possible when using knockout animals and thus the genotype differences are hardly ever unequivocal. The results of this thesis do not suggest outright regulatory effects of PREP on the neurotransmitter functions in the mouse nigrostriatal pathway although the confirmation of this requires further studies, especially in regard to GABAergic and glutamatergic systems. Studies should include a scale of different behavioral tests of motor activity and repeated microdialysis experiment with some defining method changes. The possible function and mechanisms of PREP as a regulator of neurotransmitter intake or release is rationale to study at molecular level with applicable methods.

γ-Aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) receptors are ligand gated ion channels mediating most inhibitory signals in the brain. GABAA receptor consists of five subunits, and there are 16 different subunits known. This forms base to pharmacological diversity of GABAA receptors. In this study autoradiography on subunit gene knock out mouse models was used to visualize the meaning of different subunits in forming GABAA receptors exhibiting special kinds of pharmacology, ie. GABA-insensitive [35S]TBPS-binding and high-affinity [3H]muscimol binding. In receptors exhibiting GABA-insensitive TBPS-binding GABA fails to cause full dissociation of TBPS from the ionophore, which means that the receptors are not fully activated by GABA. This study revealed, that contrary to what was previously believed, the forebrain GABA-insensitive [35S]TBPS binding is most likely caused by GABAA receptors consisting of α1 and β subunits or α1, β and δ subunits. High-affinity muscimol binding in the α1 KO mice was found to be unaltered, whereas α4 KO, δ KO and α4 + δ KO mice exhibited diminished high-affinity [3H]muscimol binding. Contrary to what was previously considered, this study points out that α1β GABAA receptors are mediating GIS-binding in the forebrain. Changes in high-affinity [3H]muscimol binding has also been found to correlate with changes of muscimols effects in vivo in knock out mouse models.

Reniini-angiotensiinijärjestelmän (RAS) merkitys verenpaineen säätelyssä on kiistaton. Sen komponenttien on osoitettu ilmentyvän sydämen ja verenkiertoelimistön lisäksi myös muun muassa ruoansulatuskanavassa, haimassa, aivoissa ja silmissä, mikä on herättänyt ajatuksen siitä, että RAS:n merkitys elimistön toiminnalle voi olla huomattavasti nykykäsitystä monimuotoisempi. Ruoansulatuskanavassa sen vaikutuksia voivat olla verisuonten ja suolen sileän lihaskudoksen supistuksen säätely, muutokset suolen limakalvon läpäisevyydessä tai toimiminen ruoansulatusentsyyminä.