Vesicular Acetylcholine Transporter Density and Alzheimer’s Disease

We have evaluated the vesamicol analogue meta-[ 125I]iodobenzyltrozamicol {(+)-[ 125I]MIBT} as a probe to assess cholinergic terminal integrity in the human temporal cortex. Saturation binding analysis, using 5-aminobenzovesamicol (ABV) to define nonspecific binding, revealed a high-affinity binding site with a K d value of 4.3 ± 1.2 nM in the temporal cortex of the young control subjects. Similar affinity values were observed for (+)-[ 125I]MIBT binding in aged control subjects ( K d = 3.4 ± 0.5 nM) and AD patients ( K d = 3.0 ± 0.8 nM). In contrast, Bmax values for young subjects, aged controls and AD patients were 31.2 ± 6.3, 17.0 ± 2.0 and 9.4 ± 1.6 pmol/g, respectively, clearly reflecting significant reductions in (+)-[ 125I]MIBT binding site density with aging and age-related neuropathology. Moreover, the decrease in (+)-[ 125I]MIBT binding was correlated with choline acetyltransferase activities ( r = 0.72) in the AD temporal cortex. These results suggest that when selective ligands are used, the vesicular acetylcholine transporter can be a useful marker protein for assessing the loss of cholinergic projections in AD and related disorders

Nature-inspired indolyl-2-azabicyclo[2.2.2]oct-7-ene derivatives as promising agents for the attenuation of withdrawal symptoms: synthesis of 20-desethyl-20-hydroxymethyl-11-demethoxyibogaine

Microwave assisted Diels-Alder cycloaddition of 5-Br-N -benzylpyridinone (2) with methyl acrylate is described to gain an easy access to 7-bromo-2-benzyl-3-oxo-2-aza-5 or 6-carbomethoxy bicyclo[2.2.2]oct-7-enes (3)-(6). The preparation of the ibogaine analogue 20-desethyl-(20-endo)-hydroxymethyl-11-demethoxyibogaine (17) is described by stereoselective hydrogenation of the C(7)-C(8) double bond. Biological evaluation showed an interesting in vitro binding profile toward dopamine transporter, serotonin transporter and opioid receptor systems accompanied by an antiwithdrawal effect in mice for hydroxymethyl 7-indolyl-2-aza-bicyclo[2.2.2]oct-2-ene (14). The simplification of the ibogaine structure appears as a promising approach toward the design of compounds that could reduce the withdrawal symptoms