A comparison of the therapeutic and toxic effects of thioridazine and chlorpromazine in chronic schizophrenic patients

Application of DMSO as a methylthiolating reagent in organic synthesis

In the past decades, DMSO has been widely used not only as a common solvent but also as an environmentally benign oxidant in various organic transformations. Most strikingly, DMSO can be used as a sulfur source to construct methylthiolated building blocks of potential biologically active molecules, which is a remarkable achievement in the field of organic sulfur chemistry. The purpose of this review article is to summarize and discuss the main developments in the application of DMSO as a methylthiolating reagent to introduce the -SMe functionality in organic synthesis.

In Vitro Screening for Seizure Liability Using Microelectrode Array Technology

Drug-induced seizure liabilities produce significant compound attrition during drug discovery. Currently available in vitro cytotoxicity assays cannot predict all toxicity mechanisms due to the failure of these assays to predict sublethal target-specific electrophysiological liabilities. Identification of seizurogenic and other electrophysiological effects at early stages of the drug development process is important to ensure that safe candidate compounds can be developed while chemical design is taking place, long before these liabilities are discovered in costly preclinical in vivo studies. The development of a high throughput and reliable in vitro assay to screen compounds for seizure liabilities would de-risk compounds significantly earlier in the drug discovery process and with greater dependability. Here we describe a method for screening compounds that utilizes rat cortical neurons plated onto multiwell microelectrode array plates to identify compounds that cause neurophysiological disruptions. Changes in 12 electrophysiological parameters (spike train descriptors) were measured after application of known seizurogenic compounds and the response pattern was mapped relative to negative controls, vehicle control and neurotoxic controls. Twenty chemicals with a variety of therapeutic indications and targets, including GABAA antagonists, glycine receptor antagonists, ion channel blockers, muscarinic agonist, δ-opioid receptor agonist, dopaminergic D2/adrenergic receptor blocker and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, were tested to assess this system. Sixteen of the seventeen seizurogenic/neurotoxic compounds tested positive for seizure liability or neurotoxicity, moreover, different endpoint response patterns for firing rate, burst characteristics and synchrony that distinguished the chemicals into groups relating to target and seizurogenic response emerged from the data. The negative and vehicle control compounds had no effect on neural activity. In conclusion, the multiwell microelectrode array platform using cryopreserved rat cortical neurons is a highly effective high throughput method for reliably screening seizure liabilities within an early de-risking drug development paradigm.

A Controlled Study of the Use of Thioridazine in the Treatment of Hyperactive and Aggressive Children in a Children's Psychiatric Hospital

Studies on the use of thioridazine in adults and children were reviewed and the paucity of the controlled objective investigated, observed.

Thioridazine in doses of 25 mg. t.i.d. was administered to nine children with persistent marked aggressivity and hyper-activity. A double-blind study revealed a considerable reduction in aggressive, destructive and hyperactive behaviour. Status epilepticus occurred in an epileptic boy, necessitating an increase in anticonvulsant medication. No other side effects were observed.

It is concluded that thioridazine is a safe and useful drug in the treatment of hyperactive, aggressive, destructive patterns of behaviour in children.

Differential effects of classical and atypical antipsychotic drugs on A9 and A10 dopamine neurons

Prolonged treatment with classical antipsychotic drugs decreased the number of spontaneously active dopamine neurons in both the substantia nigra (A9) and the ventral tegmental area (A10) of the rat brain. In contrast, treatment with atypical antipsychotic drugs selectively decreased the number of A10 dopamine neurons. Related drugs lacking antipsychotic efficacy failed to decrease dopamine activity. These findings suggest that the inability of atypical antipsychotic drugs to decrease A9 dopamine neuronal activity may be related to their lower potential for causing tardive dyskinesia and that the inactivation of A10 neurons may be involved in the delayed onset of therapeutic effects during treatment.

Effects of thioridazine on apomorphine-elicited stereotypic behavior and motor activity

Bilaterally injected thioridazine (10 micrograms) into the striata of rats augmented the stereotypic behavior elicited by apomorphine. The enhancing effect was attenuated by pretreatment with alpha-methyl-p-tyrosine. At 48 hr postinjection of thioridazine (1.0 mg/kg, IP), motor suppression from a low dose of apomorphine (0.2 mg/kg, IP) was enhanced; however, motor response to a high dose of apomorphine (1 mg/kg, SC) was not affected. Possible mechanisms of action of thioridazine are discussed.

Behavioural effects of chronic treatment with apomorphine in combination with neuroleptic drugs

Groups of male Wistar rats were injected with either apomorphine alone twice daily for one week or with apomorphine in combination with chlorpromazine or thioridazine. The neuroleptics were administered once daily so that it was possible to assess their duration of effect on the apomorphine responses. Other groups were injected with saline (controls) chlorpromazine or thioridazine. The nature and time of onset and duration of the stereotyped response following apomorphine injection was determined twice daily. In addition, the behaviour of the rats on the hole board apparatus was also assessed after seven days of drug treatment. Apomorphine was found to induce either a "sniffing/burrowing" or a "fighting" stereotypy. Chlorpromazine increased the latency and reduced the duration of both types of stereotypy. In contrast thioridazine only increased the latency and reduced the duration of response the "fighting" group. On the hole board apparatus, both neuroleptics reduced the ambulation and rearing scores of the "fighting groups alone. It is suggested that the different types of stereotypy induced by chronic apomorphine administration, and their sensitivity to the two neuroleptics, are mediated by different types of dopamine receptors.

Inhibition of apomorphine-induced climbing in mice by cholinergic drugs and neuroleptics

Apomorphine (ap) was administered subcutaneously to mice kept in individual cages. Ap elicited an abnormal vertical climbing behaviour. The muscarinomimetics physostigmine and oxotremorine as well as the neuroleptics clozapine and haloperidol inhibited the climbing produced by ap 1 mg/kg. A small inactive dose of physostigmine potentiated the effect of clozapine but not that of haloperidol. The anticholinergic atropine antagonized the effect of physostigmine, oxotremozine, clozapine and haloperidol. The climbing behaviour produced by ap is presumably due to stimulation of dopamine receptors and this effect can be antagonized either by blockade of dopamine receptors or by activation of muscarinic receptors. Some lines of evidence suggest that the ap-inhibitory effect of clozapine may be partly due to a muscarinomimetic effect.

The coincidence of schizophrenia and Parkinsonism: some neurochemical implications

The hypothesis has recently been advanced that increased activity of central dopaminergic mechanisms underlies the symptomatology of the schizophrenias. The evidence that dopaminergic transmission in the corpus striatum is impaired in Parkinson's disease suggests that observations on the relationship between Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia may illuminate the patholophysiology of the latter disease. Four cases are reported in which an illness with schizophrenic features developed in the setting of longstanding Parkinson's disease; attention is drawn to earlier reports of schizophrenic illnesses occurring as postencephalitic sequelae in the presence of a parkinsonian syndrome. These observations appear to conflict with the view that increased dopamine release in the striatum is necessary for the expression of schizophrenic psychopathology, but do not exclude the possibility that increased transmission may occur at other dopaminergic sites in the brain, for example the nucleus accumbens, tuberculum olfactorium or cerebral cortex. Similarly the dopamine receptor blockade hypothesis of the therapeutic effects of neuroleptic drugs cannot be maintained with respect to an action in the striatum in view of the differences between the actions of thioridazine and chlorpromazine in this structure, but may be tenable for actions at extra-straital sites.

Inhibition and potentiation of apomorphine-induced hypermotility in rats by neuroleptics

The effect of apomorphine (ap) was investigated in rats kept in a familiar cage; 0.25-5 mg/kg s.c. produced a short-lasting, abnormal hypermotility consisting mainly of locomotion and sniffing without grooming. Ap was administered to rate pretreated s.c. with various drugs. Ap hypermotility was antagonized by 12 neuroleptics from different chemical groups. The ap inhibitory effect of 5 neuroleptics was decreased when the interval between pretreatment and ap administration was increased from 0.5 to 4 hr. Clozapine was the only neuroleptic showing no inhibition but potentiation at 4 hr. Mepazine, a phenothiazine lacking antipsychotic effects, as well as the NA receptor blockers aceperone and phenoxybenzamine, did not inhibit ap hypermotility. Ap was also given 24 hr after haloperidol and clozapine. At this time both neuroleptics showed ap potentiation. The ap inhibition and potentiation after a single administration of the neuroleptics is presumable due to selective blockade and subsequent supersensitivity of some DA receptors.

Inhibition of 4,alpha-dimethyl-m-tyramine (H 77/77)-induced hypermotility in rats by single and repeated administration of chloropromazine, haloperidol, clozapine and thioridazine

The effect of H 77/77 (5 mg/kg s.c.) on motility of rats kept in a familiar cage was investigated. H 77/77 produced hypermotility, which was reduced by oral pretreatment with chlorpromazine, haloperidol, clozapine and thioridazine. The 4 neuroleptics were administered acutely and for a 14 day period. H 77/77 was given 30 min after the single or last dose of neuroleptc (chronic treatment) condition. After both single and repeated administration the neuroleptics showed H 77/77-antagonism in doses ranging from 0.1-2.0 mg/kg. The effect on H 77/77 activity did not change significantly after repeated treatment. Clozapine and thioridazine, which clinically produce only minor extrapyramidal side effects, exert a weak effect or none at all in tests commonly used for neuroleptic activity. These 2 neuroleptics were potent H 77/77-antagonists. Inhibition of H 77/77-hypermotility may possibly be used as a test for neuroleptics.