Talaglumetad hydrochloride

Group II metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluR2/3) are suggested to modulate anxiety, arousal, and stress including autonomic control. However, no study has investigated mGluR2/3-related effects on baseline autonomic activity and reactivity to emotional challenge in humans as yet. Using a double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled, cross-over study design, we investigated the influence of a 1-week treatment with the mGluR2/3 agonist LY544344, prodrug of LY354740, on autonomic reactivity to a cholecystokinin tetrapeptide (CCK-4) panic challenge in eight healthy young men. The main outcome measures were time and frequency domain heart rate variability parameters during baseline, CCK-4 challenge, and recovery. There was no evidence for LY544344-mediated effects on baseline and CCK-4 challenge vagal activity, but a significantly lower recovery low frequency (%) and low frequency/high frequency ratio in the LY544344 group, suggesting enhanced autonomic recovery. This pilot study provides first human data indicating that mGluR2/3 agonism is involved in autonomic responsiveness, suggesting an important role of mGluR2/3 in central autonomic regulation.

LY354740 is a potent mGlu2/3 agonist with a limited oral bioavailability. Its alanyl prodrug, LY544344, showed high affinity to the intestinal peptide transporter PEPT1, and improved the oral bioavailability of LY354740 in various animal models. The aim of the present study was to investigate the mechanism of in vivo absorption of the dipeptidic prodrug LY544344. The permeabilities of LY544344 and LY354740 were examined in the rat in situ single-pass intestinal perfusion model. The intestinal absorptive flux of LY354740 was shown to be very low in comparison with LY544344. The absorptive flux of LY544344 could best be described by a Michaelis-Menten process in parallel with a linear process. The estimated parameters were: J(max) = 26.7 x 10(-5) micromol/(cm(2)-s), K(m) = 2.6 mM. The absorptive permeability of LY544344 was reduced to approximately 5% of control in the presence of excess Gly-Sar, a known PEPT1 substrate. Intracellular accumulation of LY354740 and LY544344, estimated postperfusion, showed high levels of LY354740 over LY544344 at all perfusate concentrations studied. However, there was a decline in the intracellular ratio of LY354740 to LY544344 at higher concentrations, suggesting that the metabolic activation to release LY354740 is saturable.