title: 3-Hydroxyanthranilic acid accumulation following administration of the 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid 3,4-dioxygenase inhibitor NCR-631.
abstract: In the kynurenine pathway of tryptophan metabolism, 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid is the substrate for formation of the excitotoxin quinolinic acid by 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid 3, 4-dioxygenase. This study was designed to characterize the effects on 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid after treatment with the 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid 3,4-dioxygenase inhibitor 4, 6-di-bromo-3-hydroxyanthranilic acid (NCR-631) in Sprague-Dawley rats. The blood plasma and brain concentrations of 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid were found to increase rapidly in a dose-dependent manner after gavage administration of NCR-631. However, the effect was relatively transient, with a decline in 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid levels already at 1h after NCR-631 treatment. Similar increases in plasma levels of 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid were observed following either gavage or parenteral (i.v. or s.c.) administration of NCR-631 (25 mg/kg). Only a minor enhancement of the NCR-631-induced increase in plasma 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid levels was found after sub-chronic treatment (25 mg/kg by gavage; 7 days, b.i.d.), suggesting a low propensity for altered 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid 3,4-dioxygenase activity following repeated inhibition. Administration of [14C]NCR-631 suggested 20 min initial plasma half life and an oral absorption around 50%. A dose of 250 mg/kg [14C]NCR-631 given by gavage provided plasma levels of almost 2 micromol/ml and a brain concentration of approximately 16 nmol/g, when analyzed 15 min after administration. Neither acute nor sub-chronic administration of NCR-631 caused any substantial effects on quinolinic acid levels in plasma or brain. Also, the plasma levels of kynurenic acid, another neuroactive kynurenine pathway metabolite, were unaffected by acute NCR-631 treatment. Moreover, the brain levels of the major cerebral tryptophan metabolites 5-hydroxytryptamine and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid remained unchanged following administration of NCR-631. Although reversible inhibition of 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid 3, 4-dioxygenase with NCR-631 in normal rats is insufficient to cause substantial changes in the levels of quinolinic acid or other important tryptophan metabolites, it causes a major accumulation of the substrate 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Preclinical R&D, Astra Arcus, S-151 85, Södertälje, Sweden.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fornstedt-Wallin
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lundström
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fredriksson
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schwarcz
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Luthman
mesh_terms: D050561:3-Hydroxyanthranilate 3,4-Dioxygenase; D015095:3-Hydroxyanthranilic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D049308:Dioxygenases; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006897:Hydroxyindoleacetic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D007736:Kynurenic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D010105:Oxygenases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D017378:Quinolinic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012701:Serotonin / Q000378:metabolism; D014364:Tryptophan / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C104255:4,6-dibromo-3-hydroxyanthranilic acid; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D015095:3-Hydroxyanthranilic Acid; D012701:Serotonin; D006897:Hydroxyindoleacetic Acid; D014364:Tryptophan; D010105:Oxygenases; D049308:Dioxygenases; D050561:3-Hydroxyanthranilate 3,4-Dioxygenase; D017378:Quinolinic Acid; D007736:Kynurenic Acid