Accumulation of inositol phosphates induced by chlorpromazine in C6 glioma cells

Treatment of cancer with antipsychotic medications: Pushing the boundaries of schizophrenia and cancer

Over a century ago, the phenothiazine dye, methylene blue, was discovered to have both antipsychotic and anti-cancer effects. In the 20th-century, the first phenothiazine antipsychotic, chlorpromazine, was found to inhibit cancer. During the years of elucidating the pharmacology of the phenothiazines, reserpine, an antipsychotic with a long historical background, was likewise discovered to have anti-cancer properties. Research on the effects of antipsychotics on cancer continued slowly until the 21st century when efforts to repurpose antipsychotics for cancer treatment accelerated. This review examines the history of these developments, and identifies which antipsychotics might treat cancer, and which cancers might be treated by antipsychotics. The review also describes the molecular mechanisms through which antipsychotics may inhibit cancer. Although the overlap of molecular pathways between schizophrenia and cancer have been known or suspected for many years, no comprehensive review of the subject has appeared in the psychiatric literature to assess the significance of these similarities. This review fills that gap and discusses what, if any, significance the similarities have regarding the etiology of schizophrenia.

Effects of perphenazine on the metabolism of inositol phospholipids in SK-N-BE(2) human neuroblastoma cells

Administration of myo-[3H]inositol to SK-N-BE(2) human neuroblastoma cells for 24 hr resulted in equilibrium labelling of phosphatidylinositol (PI), phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate (PIP) and phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2), as well as in retention of a large intracellular pool of free myo-[3H]inositol. Equilibrium labelling was no longer observed when cells were treated for 2 hr with 20 microM perphenazine (PPZ) in label-free medium; under these conditions, myo-[3H]inositol from the retained intracellular pool was incorporated into PI and PIP but not into PIP2. Analysis of water-soluble myo-[3H]inositol derivatives and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate mass determination indicated that PPZ did not stimulate phosphoinositide hydrolysis by phospholipase C. These results indicate that PPZ raises PI and PIP levels, whereas it is ineffective in expanding the PIP2 pool. The latter effect is not due to a concomitant synthesis and hydrolysis of this lipid.

Effect of chronic haloperidol treatment on dopamine-induced inositol phosphate formation in rat brain slices

The effects of chronic haloperidol administration on the accumulation of inositol phosphates were examined in rat brain slices pre-labeled with [3H]myo-inositol and incubated with various dopaminergic drugs. Rats were treated with haloperidol-decanoate or its vehicle (sesame oil) for two, four or six weeks. Dopamine and the selective D1 agonist, SKF38393, induced a significant increase in lithium-dependent accumulation of [3H]inositol monophosphate (IP1) in the frontal cortex, hippocampus and striatum of vehicle-treated animals, while the selective D2 agonist quinpirole did not show any effect on IP1 accumulation. The actions of dopamine and SKF38393 were blocked by the D1 antagonist, SCH23390, but not by the D2 antagonist, spiperone, in all three brain regions. Haloperidol treatment did not affect basal phosphoinositide turnover in the three brain regions. Four or six weeks of haloperidol treatment significantly decreased dopamine-induced IP1 accumulation in the striatum (by 30% and 25%, respectively), but not in the frontal cortex and the hippocampus. Four weeks of treatment with haloperidol significantly decreased IP1 levels in the striatal slices when measured in the presence of quinpirole. However, the accumulation of IP1 measured in the presence of SKF38393 was not significantly altered after haloperidol treatment. The loss of dopamine-sensitive IP accumulation was not observed in the presence of spiperone after haloperidol treatment. The number, but not the affinity, of [3H]sulpiride binding sites in the striatum was significantly increased (by 34-46%) after chronic haloperidol treatment.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Effects of chlorpromazine on phosphatidylserine biosynthesis in rat pup brain exposed to ethanol in utero

Phosphatidylserine biosynthesis in rat pup brain was examined by assaying the serine base-exchange enzyme activity in the microsomal and plasma membrane fractions, and by measuring the incorporation of [3H]serine into phosphatidylserine in brain slices and in the intact brain. Chlorpromazine, either added in vitro into the incubation system or administered to animals via i.p. injection or feeding a liquid diet, gave rise to an increase in the phosphatidylserine biosynthesis activity. Ethanol administered in the form of a liquid diet to pregnant rats (day 11 birth) resulted in a decrease in phosphatidylserine biosynthesis in the newborn and developing brain. The ethanol-induced decrease in phosphatidylserine biosynthetic activity could be reversed by adding chlorpromazine to the ethanol diet. Results demonstrate that phosphatidylserine biosynthesis in the neonatal brain is affected in opposite directions by chlorpromazine and ethanol. This poses the possibility that chlorpromazine administration may be effective in alleviating the deleterious effects caused by the decreased phosphatidylserine biosynthesis in brain due to in utero ethanol exposure.

Effect of haloperidol on cyclic AMP and inositol trisphosphate in rat striatum in vivo

To investigate the effect of haloperidol (HAL) on second messengers in the brain striatum, the concentrations of cAMP and inositol trisphosphate (IP-3) were measured in the striatum of rats in vivo after intravenous administration of HAL, and their concentrations were compared with the severity of catalepsy and changes in dopamine (DA) metabolism in the striatum. Catalepsy developed both in the animals treated with 5 mg/kg and those with 0.5 mg/kg of HAL, but it appeared earlier, and the period of severe catalepsy was longer in the former than in the latter. In the animals treated with 5 mg/kg of HAL, DOPAC and HVA began to increase at 20 min after administration, and their percent increases were correlated with the severity of catalepsy. In the 5 mg/kg animals, both cAMP and IP-3 increased. The IP-3 showed a delayed peak but a greater increase as compared with the cAMP. In the 0.5 mg/kg animals, only IP-3 increased. These findings suggest that HAL might affect not only the adenylate cyclase system but also the phosphoinositide response in the striatum. Moreover, the changes in the phosphoinositide response might be secondarily induced by the blocking of D-2 receptors by HAL.

Verapamil inhibits phosphatidic acid formation and modifies phosphoinositide metabolism in stimulated platelets

Rabbit platelet-rich plasma was incubated with [32P]orthophosphate, after which the platelets were washed, further incubated in the absence or presence of verapamil and subsequently stimulated with PAF-acether or thrombin. In the absence of verapamil, a rapid increase in radioactivity in phosphatidic acid was observed in platelets stimulated with PAF-acether or thrombin. This was inhibited by verapamil over the concentration range 10(-7) to 10(-4) M, at which concentration the rise in phosphatidic acid was completely abolished. In unstimulated platelets, 10(-4) M verapamil induced an increase in radioactivity in polyphosphoinositides but not significantly in phosphatidylinositol. When these verapamil-treated platelets were stimulated with PAF-acether or thrombin, there was a rapid, sustained loss of the additional radioactivity induced in the polyphosphoinositides by verapamil. Polyphosphoinositide radioactivity remained unchanged in platelets stimulated in the absence of verapamil. Verapamil may stimulate formation of a separate pool of polyphosphoinositide which is susceptible to agonist-induced phospholipase C, and failure to re-synthesize this polyphosphoinositide could result from inhibition of phosphatidic acid synthesis.