A new central direct dopaminergic stimulant: 1-(Coumaran-5-yl methyl)-4-(2-thiazolyl) piperazine hydrochloride (S 3608)

A comparative study of the locomotor activity effects of apomorphine and the "atypical dopamine agonists" (piribedil and S3608)

Apomorphine and the "atypical dopamine agonists" (piribedil and S3608) dose dependently increase locomotor activity (LA) in rats. The LA effects of all 3 drugs are readily attenuated by pretreatment with pimozide or sulpiride. Reserpine pretreatment or bilateral 6-hydroxydopamine lesions of the nucleus accumbens (NAS) potentiates apomorphine-induced LA but attenuates piribedil- and S3608-induced LA. The latter suggests an indirect mode of action for piribedil and for S3608. However, piribedil and S3608 at concentrations up to 10(-4)M do not cause release or inhibition of 3H-dopamine uptake in synaptosomes prepared from the rat NAS. Sulpiride antagonism of apomorphine-induced LA is surmountable by increasing the dose of apomorphine. Antagonism of piribedil- or S3608-induced LA by sulpiride is not surmountable by increasing the dose of either of the "atypical dopamine agonists". Furthermore, pretreatment with either piribedil or S3608 substantially increases the peak LA inducible by apomorphine. The effects of simultaneous injections of piribedil and S3608 are, however, not additive. These findings suggest that the LA stimulant effects of piribedil and S3608 are mediated via receptors or systems which differ from the receptors involved in the mediation of apomorphine-induced LA.

Identification and quantitation of 1-arylpiperazines, metabolites resulting from side-chain cleavage of (4-substituted aryl-1-piperazinyl)alkyl heterocyclic derivatives in rat plasma and brain

Many drugs contain the arylpiperazine moiety in the side-chain of their molecules. A common metabolic pathway of such drugs is cleavage of the side-chain with the formation of 1-arylpiperazines. This has been verified by combined gas chromatography-mass spectrometry of biological samples from rats given orally a series of heterocyclic derivatives bearing a 4-aryl(phenyl, pyrimidinyl, pyridyl or thiazolyl)-1-piperazinylalkyl moiety (oxypertine, zolertine, millipertine, empiprazole, dapiprazole, antrafenine, piribedil, azaperone). A sensitive and selective electron-capture gas-liquid chromatographic procedure for 1-arylpiperazines in rat plasma and brain is described. The overall recovery from plasma and brain was 70-90%. The limit of detection for substituted (halogenated) phenylpiperazines was 10-25 ng/ml or ng/g and 25-100 ng/ml or ng/g for other derivatives. Preliminary data are reported on the time course of the production and elimination of 1-arylpiperazines after oral administration of representative compounds with the arylpiperazine moiety (oxypertine, azaperone and S-3608).