[3H]Imipramine Binding of Protein Nature in Human Platelets: Inhibition by 5-Hydroxytryptamine and 5-Hydroxytryptamine Uptake Inhibitors

Abstract: The nature of [³H]imipramine binding to human platelets was investigated. Desipramine and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) displaced the same amount of binding and the binding was sensitive to protease treatment. The nature of pharmacological inhibition of [³H]imipramine binding was investigated in saturation experiments. Increases in K d without changes in B _max were noted with the addition of 5-HT, desipramine, norzimeldine, or 5-methoxytryptoline. Reductions in B _max without alterations in K _D were obtained when citalopram or clomipramine was added. It is concluded that the [³H]imipramine binding site in human platelets is of protein nature and that this binding site contains the substrate recognition site for 5-HT uptake. In addition, [³H]imipramine and other 5-HT uptake inhibitors have bonds to other parts of the 5-HT uptake carrier or to the surrounding lipid membrane. This additional binding outside the substrate recognition site is not one single site but most likely represents sites that are specific for the chemical structure of each uptake inhibitor, respectively.     

Autoradiographic Analysis of [3H]Imipramine Binding in the Human Brain Postmortem: Effects of Age and Alcohol

In vitro quantitative autoradiography of high-affinity [3H]imipramine binding sites was performed on 16 human brains postmortem. The densities of binding sites were highest in the hypothalamus. Next, in descending order, were the basal and lateral nuclei of the amygdala; substantia innominata; insular cortex; the central nucleus of the amygdala; the anterior nucleus of the thalamus; the head of the caudate nucleus; portions of the frontal, parietal, and temporal cortex; claustrum; the granular layer of the dentate gyrus; substantia nigra; the pyramidal layer of CA fields; globus pallidus; red nucleus; and white matter. Imipramine binding was found to increase with age in a region-specific manner. The presence of alcohol had a similar effect, which was most pronounced in the hippocampus. Sex and time from death to autopsy did not affect imipramine binding, in our sample.     

Effect of Chronic Desipramine Treatment on Dihydroalprenolol, Imipramine, and Desipramine Binding Sites: A Quantitative Autoradiographic Study in the Rat Brain

Desmethylimipramine (DMI) administered once daily for 10 days caused a significant decrease in beta-adrenergic receptor binding, as measured by quantitative autoradiography in discrete brain regions. The decrease was observed 72 h after the last injection throughout the cortex and in hippocampus but not in other regions, much richer in beta-receptors, such as the caudate, olfactory tubercle, superior colliculus, dorsomedial thalamus, substantia nigra, or pineal. The same paradigm did not affect imipramine (IMI) binding in the cortex or in regions with high concentrations of IMI binding sites. DMI binding was not decreased, either. Significant increases in DMI binding were observed in frontal cortex and in the ventral aspect of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. We conclude that a reduction in tricyclic binding is not a general phenomenon following chronic treatment with tricyclic antidepressants, and changes in binding, when they do occur, are not correlated with areas of high binding site density.     

Tryptamine, a Substrate for the Serotonin Transporter in Human Platelets, Modifies the Dissociation Kinetics of [3H]Imipramine Binding: Possible Allosteric Interaction

Tricyclic antidepressants and nontricyclic serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine) uptake blockers monophasically inhibit [3H]imipramine binding in human platelets. Similarly, serotonin and tryptamine inhibit the binding of [3H]imipramine in the low micromolar range and with a pseudo-Hill coefficient near unity. Dissociation of the [3H]imipramine receptor complex in the presence of uptake inhibitors follows first-order kinetics with a half-life of approximately 60 min. Although serotonin and tryptamine do not decrease [3H]imipramine binding when added under equilibrium conditions, simultaneous addition of serotonin or tryptamine with serotonin uptake inhibitors decreases the rate of ligand-receptor dissociation in a concentration-dependent manner. These data suggest a common site of action for serotonin, which is the substrate of the transporter system, and of tryptamine, its nonhydroxylated analog. This hypothesis is supported by the identification of a high-affinity (Km = 0.55 microM), saturable, and temperature-dependent uptake of [3H]tryptamine in human platelets. Uptake of [3H]tryptamine was inhibited potently by imipramine and nontricyclic serotonin uptake inhibitors with a potency similar to that observed for [3H]serotonin uptake. These data support the hypothesis that in platelets, [3H]imipramine, tricyclic, and nontricyclic serotonin uptake inhibitors bind to a common recognition site that is associated with the serotonin transporter but that differs from the substrate recognition site of the carrier through which serotonin and tryptamine exert a heterotropic allosteric modulation on [3H]imipramine binding.     

Carbon Balance Studies of Glucose Metabolism in Rat Cerebral Cortical Synaptosomes

Synaptosomes were isolated from rat cerebral cortex and incubated with [U-14C]-, [1-14C]- or [6-14C]glucose. Glucose utilization and the metabolic partitioning of glucose carbon in products were determined by isotopic methods. From the data obtained a carbon balance was constructed, showing lactate to be the main product of glucose metabolism, followed by CO2, amino acids and pyruvate. Measuring the release of 14CO2 from glucose labelled in three different positions allowed the construction of a flow diagram of glucose carbon atoms in synaptosomes, which provides information about the contribution of the various pathways of glucose metabolism. Some 2% of glucose utilized was calculated to be degraded via the pentose phosphate pathway. Addition of chlorpromazine, imipramine or haloperidol at concentrations of 10(-5) M reduced glucose utilisation by 30% without changing the distribution pattern of radioactivity in the various products.     

Chronopharmacokinetics of Imipramine and Desipramine in Rat Forebrain and Plasma After Single and Chronic Treatment with Imipramine

Daily variations in the pharmacokinetics of imipramine (IMI) could contribute to circadian phase-dependent effects of the drug. Therefore, the chronopharmacokinetics of IMI and its metabolite, desipramine (DMI), were studied after single and chronic application. Male rats were synchronized to a 12:12 hour lightdark (L:D) regimen with lights on from 07:00 to 19:00 (dark, 19:00-07:00). In single-dose experiments rats were injected with IMI (10 mg/kg) i.p. or i.v. at 07:30 or 19:30 and groups of rats were killed 0-22 hours thereafter. After chronic application of IMI in drinking water (≈ 15 mg/kg/d) groups of rats were killed during the 14th day of treatment at 02:00, 08:00, 14:00, and 20:00, respectively. Brain and plasma concentrations of IMI and DMI were determined by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection. After single i.p. application of IMI, maximal brain concentrations (C_max) of IMI and DMI were nearly twofold higher in darkness (IMI, 4.8 μg/g; DMI, 1.8 μg/g) than in light (IMI, 2.85 Mg/g; DMI, 0.85 Mg/g). Also, the area under the curve (AUC) (0-22 hours) was about 1.6-fold greater in darkness than in light for IMI and DMI; half-lives were not circadian phase dependent. After i.v. injection of IMI, the AUC in brain was also about 30% greater in darkness than in light. After chronic application of IMI in drinking water, brain concentrations of IMI and DMI varied more than threefold within 24 hours. The data demonstrate that the pharmacokinetics of IMI and DMI are circadian phase dependent. It is assumed that circadian variations in drug distribution are more likely to contribute to the drug's chronopharmacokinetics than variations in the drug's metabolism. The 24-hour variations in the drug's concentrations after chronic IMI application in drinking water can be explained by the drinking behavior of the rats, which by itself is altered by IMI.     

Antidepressants attenuate the dexamethasone-induced decrease in viability and proliferation of human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells: A involvement of extracellular regulated kinase (ERK1/2)

Excessive glucocorticoid levels in depressed patients have been associated with atrophic changes in some brain regions, but only few studies suggest that some antidepressants can interfere with deleterious effect of glucocorticoids on neuronal cells. The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of dexamethasone (DEX), a synthetic glucocorticoid and some antidepressants from different chemical groups (imipramine, desipramine, amitriptyline, citalopram, fluoxetine, reboxetine and tianeptine) on SH-SY5Y cells cultured in the medium containing steroid-free serum. DEX in concentrations from 1 to 100 μM did not change LDH release but exposure to 10 μM and 100 μM DEX for 24, 48 and 72 h caused a significant reduction in cell viability and proliferation as confirmed by MTT reduction and BrdU ELISA assays, respectively. Twenty four-hour incubation of cells with antidepressants (0.05–10 μM) and DEX (10 μM) showed that imipramine, amitriptyline, desipramine, citalopram and fluoxetine at concentrations from 0.1 up to 1 μM, reboxetine (0.1 μM) and tianeptine (0.05 μM) prevented the DEX-induced decreases in cell viability and proliferation rate. The protective effects of antidepressants were ameliorated by inhibitors of MAPK/ERK1/2, but not PI3-K/Akt pathway as shown for imipramine, fluoxetine and reboxetine. Moreover, Western blot analysis showed the decrease in the activated form of ERK1/2 (p-ERK) after DEX treatment and this effect was inhibited by imipramine. Thus, the reduction in SH-SY5Y cell viability caused by DEX appears to be related to its antiproliferative activity and some antidepressant drugs in low concentrations attenuate this effect by mechanism which involves the activation of MAPK/ERK1/2 pathway.     

A chronic stress that impairs reactivity in rats also decreases dopaminergic transmission in the nucleus accumbens: a microdialysis study

Chronic stress induces in rats a decreased reactivity toward noxious stimuli (escape deficit), which can be reverted by antidepressant treatments. The present study reports that this condition of behavioral deficit is accompanied by a decreased level of extracellular dopamine in the nucleus accumbens shell. To assess whether this finding was the result of a decreased release or of an enhanced removal of dopamine, we acutely administered cocaine, and 2 h later d-amphetamine, to stressed and control rats. The increases in dopamine output observed in stressed animals after cocaine administration were significantly lower than those observed in control rats; whereas the total amount of dopamine released after d-amphetamine administration was similar in both groups of rats. These data suggest a reduced activity of dopaminergic neurons as the possible mechanism underlying dopamine basal level reduction in stressed animals. It is interesting that the stress group showed a locomotor response to cocaine not different from control rats, thus suggesting a condition of sensitization to dopamine receptor stimulation. Imipramine administered daily concomitantly with stress exposure completely reverted the escape deficit condition of chronically stressed rats. Moreover, stressed rats treated with imipramine showed basal and cocaine stimulated levels of extraneuronal dopamine similar to those observed in control animals.     

Na+/Mg2+ transporter acts as a Mg2+ buffering mechanism in PC12 cells

Mg(2+) buffering mechanisms in PC12 cells were demonstrated with particular focus on the role of the Na(+)/Mg(2+) transporter by using a newly developed Mg(2+) indicator, KMG-20, and also a Na(+) indicator, Sodium Green. Carbonyl cyanide p-(trifluoromethoxy) phenylhydrazone (FCCP), a protonophore, induced a transient increase in the intracellular Mg(2+) concentration ([Mg(2+)](i)). The rate of decrease of [Mg(2+)](i) was slower in a Na(+)-free extracellular medium, suggesting the coupling of Na(+) influx and Mg(2+) efflux. Na(+) influxes were different for normal and imipramine- (a putative inhibitor of the Na(+)/Mg(2+) transporter) containing solutions. FCCP induced a rapid increase in [Na(+)](i) in the normal solution, while the increase was gradual in the imipramine-containing solution. The rate of decrease of [Mg(2+)](i) in the imipramine-containing solution was also slower than that in the normal solution. From these results, we show that the main buffering mechanism for excess Mg(2+) depends on the Na(+)/Mg(2+) transporter in PC12 cells.