Muscarine receptor

The anainoacridines, tacrine (19) and its 1-hydroxy metaboUte, velnacrine (20), are reversible inhibitors of AChE. Tacrine was synthesi2ed in the 1940s and has been used clinically for the treatment of myasthenia gravis and tardive dyskinesia (115). Placebo-controUed studies have indicated modest efficacy of tacrine to treat AD dementia (122,123) and in 1993 the dmg was recommended for approval by the PDA under the trade name Cognex. Tacrine (19) has been shown to interact with sites other than AChE, such as potassium channels (124) and muscarinic receptors. However, these interactions are comparatively weak and are not thought to contribute to the biological activity of the dmg at therapeutic levels (115). 

Initial attempts to treat AD using direct cholinergic agonists were limited by low efficacy and side-effect issues (140—142). Thus trials using RS-86 (25), oxotremorine [70-22-4] (26), arecoline [63-75-2] (27), and pilocarpine [92-32-7] (28) to treat AD were equivocal (Eig. 5). However, the identification of multiple subtypes of muscarinic receptors has stimulated a search for subtype specific muscarinic agonists which may limit side effects while increasing efficacy. 

Fig. 9. Correlation between binding and pharmacologic affinities where the dashed lines correspond to the theoretical correlation of 1 1 for a series of muscarinic receptor (a) antagonists, (1)—(9) and (b) agonists, (10)—(19). Correlation for the antagonists is essentially 1 1, deviating markedly from that...

Table 4. Structures of Muscarinic Receptor Antagonists and Agonists...

Substituted A,A-dialkyl(cycloalkyl)furfurylamines and their quaternary salts, 2-substituted 1,3-dioxolanes, oxathiolanes, and -dithiolanes, as antagnoists and muscarinic receptors 98F1. 

FIGURE 4.12 Effect of alcuronium on the binding of [3H] methyl-QNB (filled circles) and [3H] atropine (open circles) on muscarinic receptors. Ordinates are percentage of initial radioligand binding. Alcuronium decreases the binding of [3H] methyl-QNB and increases the binding of [3H] atropine. Data redrawn from [7]. 

Differential effects of the allosteric modulator alcuronium on various probes for the m2 muscarinic receptor. 

Lazareno, S., and Birdsall, N. J. M. (1995). Detection, quantitation, and verification of allosteric interactions of agents with labeled and unlabeled ligands at G protein-coupled receptors Interactions of strychnine and acetylcholine at muscarinic receptors. Mol. Pharmacol. 48 362-378. 

Florio, V. A., and Stemweis, P. C. (1989). Mechanism of muscarinic receptor action on G0 in reconstituted phospholipid vesicles. J. Biol. Chem. 264 3909-3915. 

Ehlert, F. J. (1985). The relationship between muscarinic receptor occupancy and adenylate cyclase inhibition in the rabbit myocardium. Mol. Pharmacol. 28 410-421. 

The effects of different allosteric modulators oil common agonists of muscarinic receptors. 

Dose-response curves to the agonist carbachol are obtained in the presence and absence of the antagonist scopolamine. The data are given in Table 12.6a. Responses are contractions of rat trachea resulting from muscarinic receptor... 

Alkaloids are heterocyclic basic compounds and widespread in plants. Many of them have specific targets in organisms. For example, the alkaloids atropine and scopolamine of Belladonna are specific antagonists at muscarinic receptors. 

The antimuscarinic drug atropine, and its derivative ipratropiumbromide, can also be used for antiarrhyth-mic treatment. Muscarinic receptors (M2 subtype) are mainly present in supraventricular tissue and in the AV node. They inhibit adenylylcyclase via G proteins and thereby reduce intracellular cAMP. On the other hand, activation of the M2 receptor leads to opening of hyperpolarizing Ik.acii and inhibits the pacemaker current If probably via the (3y-subunit of the Gi protein associated with this receptor. The results are hyperpolarization and slower spontaneous depolarization. Muscarinic receptor antagonists like atropine lead to increased heart rate and accelerated atrioventricular conduction. There are no or only slight effects on the ventricular electrophysiology. 

Synaptic Transmission a-Adrenergic System Muscarinic Receptors Histaminergic System... 

Cholinergic Transmission is the process of synaptic transmission which uses mainly acetylcholine as a transmitter. Cholinergic transmission is found widely in the peripheral and central nervous system, where acetylcholine acts on nicotinic and muscarinic receptors. 

Traumatic brain injury is the most common cause of death in subjects under the age of 40, and an important risk factor for AD. Loss of hippocampal cells and depletion of ACh and of muscarinic receptors can be attenuated in injured experimental animals, improve blood perfusion in ischemic areas and increase cholinergic transmission in cortex and hippocampus the same mechanism invoked for treatment of VD. 

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