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Åstrand A, Libby EF, Shei RJ, Lever JEP, Kaza N, Adewale AT, Boitet E, Edwards L, Hemmerling M, Root J, Lindberg B, Wingren C, Malmgren A, Sabater J, Rowe SM. Preclinical evaluation of the epithelial sodium channel inhibitor AZD5634 and implications on human translation. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol 2022; 323:L536-L547. [PMID: 36098422 PMCID: PMC9602792 DOI: 10.1152/ajplung.00454.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Airway dehydration causes mucus stasis and bacterial overgrowth in cystic fibrosis (CF), resulting in recurrent respiratory infections and exacerbations. Strategies to rehydrate airway mucus including inhibition of the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) have the potential to improve mucosal defense by enhancing mucociliary clearance (MCC) and reducing the risk of progressive decline in lung function. In the current work, we evaluated the effects of AZD5634, an ENaC inhibitor that shows extended lung retention and safety profile as compared with previously evaluated candidate drugs, in healthy and CF preclinical model systems. We found that AZD5634 elicited a potent inhibition of amiloride-sensitive current in non-CF airway cells and airway cells derived from F508del-homozygous individuals with CF that effectively increased airway surface liquid volume and improved mucociliary transport (MCT) rate. AZD5634 also demonstrated efficacious inhibition of ENaC in sheep bronchial epithelial cells, translating to dose-dependent improvement of mucus clearance in healthy sheep in vivo. Conversely, nebulization of AZD5634 did not notably improve airway hydration or MCT in CF rats that exhibit an MCC defect, consistent with findings from a first single-dose evaluation of AZD5634 on MCC in people with CF. Overall, these findings suggest that CF animal models demonstrating impaired mucus clearance translatable to the human situation may help to successfully predict and promote the successful translation of ENaC-directed therapies to the clinic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annika Åstrand
- 1Research and Early Development, Respiratory & Immunology, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Emily Falk Libby
- 2Cystic Fibrosis Research Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama
| | - Ren-Jay Shei
- 2Cystic Fibrosis Research Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama,3Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama
| | - Jacelyn E. Peabody Lever
- 2Cystic Fibrosis Research Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama,3Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama
| | - Niroop Kaza
- 3Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama
| | | | - Evan Boitet
- 2Cystic Fibrosis Research Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama
| | - Lloyd Edwards
- 4Department of Biostatistics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama
| | - Martin Hemmerling
- 1Research and Early Development, Respiratory & Immunology, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - James Root
- 1Research and Early Development, Respiratory & Immunology, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Botilda Lindberg
- 1Research and Early Development, Respiratory & Immunology, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Cecilia Wingren
- 1Research and Early Development, Respiratory & Immunology, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Anna Malmgren
- 1Research and Early Development, Respiratory & Immunology, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | | | - Steven M. Rowe
- 2Cystic Fibrosis Research Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama,3Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama,5Department of Cellular, Developmental, and Integrative Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama,6Department of Pediatrics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama
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