Chronic unpredicted mild stress-induced depression alter saxagliptin pharmacokinetics and CYP450 activity in GK rats

Background. This study was to explore the pharmacokinetics of saxagliptin (Sax) in Goto–Kakizaki (GK) rats complicated with depression induced by chronic unpredicted mild stress (CUMS). The comorbidity of diabetic patients with depression is becoming more and more epidemic. Whether depression mental disorder alters the pharmacokinetics of hypoglycemic drugs in diabetes patients is not clear.Methods. Five-week-old male GK rats were kept in the cage for 7 weeks in a specific pathogen free (SPF)-grade lab until the emergence of diabetes and were then divided into two groups: control group and depression model group. Rats in the CUMS-induced depression group were exposed to a series of stressors for 8 weeks. Plasma serotonin and dopamine levels and behavior of open-field test were used to confirm the establishment of the depression model. All rats were given 0.5 mg/kg Sax orally after 8 weeks and blood samples were collected at different time points. The Sax concentration was assayed by high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). The CYP450 activity of the liver microsomes was determined by using cocktails of probe drugs in which the activities of CYP enzymes were assessed through the determination of the production of the probe drugs.Results. Statistically significant differences in Sax pharmacokinetics were observed for area under curve, clearance, peak concentration, peak time and mean residence time between the depression rats and the control rats, while no statistical differences were observed for half-time and distribution volume by HPLC-MS/MS analysis. The CYP450 activity had different changes in the depression group.Conclusions. These results indicated that CUMS-induced depression alters the drug metabolic process of Sax and CYP450 activity of the liver microsomal enzymes in GK rats

Discovery and Optimization of 3‑(2-(Pyrazolo[1,5‑<i>a</i>]pyrimidin-6-yl)ethynyl)benzamides as Novel Selective and Orally Bioavailable Discoidin Domain Receptor 1 (DDR1) Inhibitors

Discoidin domain receptor 1 (DDR1) is an emerging potential molecular target for new anticancer drug discovery. We have discovered a series of 3-(2-(pyrazolo­[1,5-<i>a</i>]­pyrimidin-6-yl) ethynyl)­benzamides that are selective and orally bioavailable DDR1 inhibitors. The two most promising compounds (<b>7rh</b> and <b>7rj</b>) inhibited the enzymatic activity of DDR1, with IC₅₀ values of 6.8 and 7.0 nM, respectively, but were significantly less potent in suppressing the kinase activities of DDR2, Bcr-Abl, and c-Kit. Further study revealed that <b>7rh</b> bound with DDR1 with a <i>K</i>_d value of 0.6 nM, while it was significantly less potent to the other 455 kinases tested. The S(35) and S(10) selectivity scores of <b>7rh</b> were 0.035 and 0.008, respectively. The compounds also potently inhibited the proliferation of cancer cells expressing high levels of DDR1 and strongly suppressed cancer cell invasion, adhesion, and tumorigenicity. Preliminary pharmacokinetic studies suggested that they possessed good PK profiles, with oral bioavailabilities of 67.4% and 56.2%, respectively