Thiorphan - N-(3-mercapto-2-benzylpropanoyl)-glycine:
![](https://www.thevespiary.org/rhodium/Rhodium/hive/hiveboard/picproxie_docs/000535161-untitled.gif)
H.P.Rang`s "Pharmacology" says:
Enkephallinase inhibitors, such as thiorphan, act by inhibiting the metabolic degradation of endogenous opioid peptides. They have been shown to produce analgesia, together with other morphine-like effects, without causing dependance.
Isn`t that what we dreamed of?
Additional information:
Thiorphan and analogs: lack of correlation between potency to inhibit "enkephalinase A" in vitro and analgesic potency in vivo
LG Mendelsohn, BG Johnson, WL Scott and RC Frederickson
Abstract:
The potencies of the R and S isomers of thiorphan and rigid analogs of thiorphan to produce analgesia in a mouse hot-plate assay have been compared with their potencies to inhibit enkephalin degradation by rat brain "enkephalinase A." The R and S isomers of thiorphan were equipotent as enzyme inhibitors (IC50 approximately 10(-9) M) but had significantly different analgesic profiles when injected i.c.v. Rigid analogs of thiorphan were less potent enzyme inhibitors (IC50 values of 10(-7) - 10(-4) M) but produced analgesia and potentiated Tyr-D-Ala-Gly- Phe-Met-NH2 induced analgesia at doses (i.c.v.) comparable to thiorphan. These observations suggest that inhibitors of enkephalinase A produce analgesia through a pharmacological mechanism which is not directly related to inhibition of enkephalin degradation.
Volume 234, Issue 2, pp. 386-390, 08/01/1985
Pharmacological properties of acetorphan, a parenterally active "enkephalinase" inhibitor
JM Lecomte, J Costentin, A Vlaiculescu, P Chaillet, H Marcais-Collado, C Llorens-Cortes, M Leboyer and JC Schwartz
Abstract:
Acetorphan, i.e. N-[(R,S)-3-acetylmercapto-2-benzylpropanoyl]-glycine, benzyl ester, is a lipophilic derivative of Thiorphan, a potent inhibitor of "enkephalinase" (EC 3.4.24.11). On purified enkephalinase its inhibitory potency was approximately 1000 fold less than that of Thiorphan but became close to the latter (nanomolar) when it was incubated previously with cerebral membranes. After parenteral administration to mice and rats (1-10 mg/kg) extensive inhibition of cerebral enkephalinase was shown by the depressed enzyme activity in brain membranes from treated animals and the long-lasting potentiation of analgesia elicited by (D-Ala2,Met5)enkephalin (i.c.v.). This suggests that acetorphan easily enters the brain where the active Thiorphan is released. Parenteral acetorphan elicited a series of naloxone-reversible, opioid-like effects, most of which were described previously with intracerebral Thiorphan or other enkephalinase inhibitors. Antinociceptive effects were found in some tests (hot plate jump and phenylbenzoquinone-induced writhing) but not in others (hot plate licking and tail withdrawal). "Antidepressant" effect was found in the "mouse despair" test and antidiarrhoeal effect in the rat castor oil test. Acetorphan also elicited significant increases and decreases in turnover indexes of serotonin and noradrenaline, respectively, in mouse cerebral cortex. In mice chronically treated with acetorphan, the antinociceptive activity of the compound was not modified markedly and no overt withdrawal symptom could be observed after either treatment interruption or administration of naloxone.
Volume 237, Issue 3, pp. 937-944, 06/01/1986
Irreversible photolabeling of active site of neutral endopeptidase- 24.11 "enkephalinase" by azidothiorphan and [14C]-azidothiorphan
A Beaumont, JF Hernandez, P Chaillet, P Crine and BP Roques
Departement de Chimie Organique, U 266 INSERM, UA 498 CNRS, Faculte de Pharmacie, Paris, France.
Abstract:
Azidothiorphan and its [14C]-labeled analogue have been developed as photoaffinity ligands for the active site of the neutral endopeptidase 24.11. In in vitro assays azidothiorphan inhibits the endopeptidase activity with a Ki of 0.75 nM. After ultraviolet irradiation the inhibitor binds irreversibly to the enzyme, and many factors suggest that the photolabeling occurs at the active site. The binding is accompanied by a loss of enzymatic activity, and the inclusion of the competitive inhibitor thiorphan protects the endopeptidase from this inactivation. In addition the binding of another competitive inhibitor [3H]N-[(R,S)-3-hydroxyaminocarbonyl-2-benzyl-1-oxopropyl]-glycine to the active site of endopeptidase-24.11 is inhibited after irradiation with azidothiorphan. Experiments with [14C]-azidothiorphan have shown that very little nonspecific binding of inhibitor to enzyme occurs and the the labeled probe remains bound under denaturing conditions. Azidothiorphan has also been found to produce a long-lasting naloxone- reversible analgesia after intracerebroventricular administration. The results show that azidothiorphan should prove useful both for structural studies and for investigations on the synthesis and turnover of the neutral endopeptidase-24.11.
Volume 32, Issue 5, pp. 594-599, 11/01/1987
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