Bifemelane hydrochloride

Bifemelane hydrochloride protects against cytotoxicity of hydrogen peroxide on cultured rat neuroblastoma cell line.[Pubmed:10403625]

Neurochem Res. 1999 Jul;24(7):857-60.

Free radicals are involved in neuronal damage. Bifemelane hydrochloride has been reported to protect neural tissues against ischemic damage and age-related neurodegeneration. We examined the protective effects of bifemelane HCl and the relation between its effectiveness and free radical formation in hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced cytotoxicity using cultured rat neuroblastoma cell line (B50). Cytotoxicity was examined by using the lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assay and cell viability by the WST-1 assay. H2O2 reduced the survival of B50 cells in a dose-dependent manner, and treatment of these cells with 75 microM or 100 microM H2O2 reduced their viability by 50% relative to the control group. B50 cells were treated with 5 or 10 microM bifemelane for 2 days followed by treatment with 75 microM or 100 microM H2O2. H2O2 cytotoxicity was reduced by pretreatment with bifemelane. We also examined the effect of bifemelane on lipid peroxide formation in B50 cells using thiobarbituric acid reactive substances assay. Pretreatment of B50 cells with 10 microM bifemelane for 2 days reduced lipid peroxide formation to approximately 54% of the control group. Our results suggest that Bifemelane hydrochloride provides a protective effect against H2O2 cytotoxicity partly due to its anti-oxidative properties.

The effect of long-term post-ischemic bifemelane hydrochloride treatment on cholinergic systems in the gerbil hippocampus.[Pubmed:8813367]

Brain Res. 1996 May 25;722(1-2):195-9.

Bifemelane hydrochloride (BF) is a modulator of various neurotransmitter systems. The effect of BF on the cholinergic system was studied in the gerbil hippocampus at 100 days after ischemic damage. Marked enhancement of AChE staining was noticed in the CA1 of saline-treated animals at 100 days after ischemia, while the post-ischemic enhancement of AChE staining intensity was milder in BF-treated animals. Muscarinic receptor density was markedly decreased in the CA1 subfield after ischemia. Interestingly, BF-treated animals showed higher muscarinic receptor binding in many brain areas, particularly in the dentate gyrus. These results indicate that BF modulates cholinergic neuronal plasticity in the ischemic hippocampus after long-term survival.

Preventive effects of bifemelane hydrochloride on decreased levels of muscarinic acetylcholine receptor and its mRNA in a rat model of chronic cerebral hypoperfusion.[Pubmed:8861111]

Neurosci Res. 1996 Mar;24(4):409-14.

Changes in muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mACh-R) binding and muscarinic cholinergic m1 receptor (m1-R) mRNA levels were determined in a rat model of cerebral hypoperfusion in which hypoperfusion was induced by permanent bilateral occlusion of the common carotid arteries. After 6 weeks of hypoperfusion, mACh-R binding activity was significantly reduced in the frontal cortex (79.0 percent, P <0.01), striatum (74.2 percent, P < 0.01) and hippocampus (78.6 percent, P < 0.01), and the m1-R mRNA levels in the frontal cortex (86.6 percent, P < 0.05) and striatum (89.4 percent, P < 0.05) compared with sham-operated control. Repeated administration of Bifemelane hydrochloride (15 mg/kg/day, p.o., once a day from the day of operation for 6 weeks) prevented the hypoperfusion-induced loss of mACh-R binding and m1-R mRNA levels above described. Since the central cholinergic systems play an important role in learning and memory, these findings suggest that Bifemelane hydrochloride is useful to treat and/or prevent vascular dementia which is closely related to cerebral hypoperfusion.

Effects of bifemelane hydrochloride on atherosclerosis in aged rats fed low-calcium diets.[Pubmed:8959529]

J Int Med Res. 1996 Nov-Dec;24(6):454-65.

The preventative effects of bifemelane (4-(o-benzylphenoxy)-N-methylbutylamine hydrochloride) on atherosclerosis in aged rats fed low-calcium diets were investigated. Male 18-month-old Wistar rats were maintained for 90 days on the following: (A) standard diet (n = 7), (B) low calcium, low magnesium, high aluminium diet (n = 8), (C) standard diet plus oral intubation with 10 mg bifemelane/kg daily (n = 6), (D) low calcium and magnesium, high aluminium diet plus oral intubation with 10 mg bifemelane/kg daily (n = 6). All groups were give these diets and water ad lib for 90 days, after which blood samples were taken from the abdominal aorta and samples of aorta were examined for atherosclerotic changes. The serum concentrations of the following were determined: calcium, magnesium, zinc, aluminium, inorganic phosphorus, cholesterol, glutamate-oxaloacetate transaminase, glutamate-pyruvate transaminase, lactate dehydrogenase, cholinesterase, creatine phosphokinase, blood urea nitrogen and N-terminal parathyroid hormone. The only significant differences between the groups in serum chemistry were reduced concentrations of cholinesterase and magnesium in groups B and D, increased aluminium in group B, and increased N-terminal parathyroid hormone in groups B and D. In groups C and D the atherosclerosis was much improved compared with that in groups A and B. It appears that bifemelane largely prevents atherosclerosis caused by calcium deposition in the arteries of rats fed low-calcium diets, due to its effect in maintaining magnesium and calcium in bones.

Effects of bifemelane on parkinsonism induced by 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) in the common marmoset.[Pubmed:7816348]

Neurosci Lett. 1994 Aug 29;178(1):95-8.

The effects of bifemelane on parkinsonism were shown in MPTP-treated common marmosets. The administration of bifemelane increased locomotor activity in MPTP-treated marmosets but not in normal control marmosets. In a microdialysis study, extracellular levels of dopamine and its metabolites increased following the administration of bifemelane. These results indicate that it is worth studying the effects of Bifemelane hydrochloride on patients with Parkinson's disease.

4-(O-benzylphenoxy)-N-methylbutylamine (bifemelane) and other 4-(O-benzylphenoxy)-N-methylalkylamines as new inhibitors of type A and B monoamine oxidase.[Pubmed:3335842]

J Neurochem. 1988 Jan;50(1):243-7.

4-(O-Benzylphenoxy)-N-methylbutylamine (Bifemelane, BP-N-methylbutylamine), a new psychotropic drug, was found to inhibit monoamine oxidase (MAO) in human brain synaptosomes. It inhibited type A MAO (MAO-A) competitively and type B (MAO-B) noncompetitively. BP-N-methylbutylamine had a much higher affinity to MAO-A than an amine substrate, kynuramine, and it was a more potent inhibitor of MAO-A than of MAO-B. The Ki values of MAO-A and -B were determined to be 4.20 and 46.0 microM, respectively, while the Km values of MAO-A and -B with kynuramine were 44.1 and 90.0 microM, respectively. The inhibition of MAO-A and -B by BP-N-methylbutylamine was found to be reversible by dialysis of the incubation mixture. MAO-A in human placental and liver mitochondria and in a rat clonal pheochromocytoma cell line, PC12h, was inhibited competitively by BP-N-methylbutylamine, while MAO-B in human liver mitochondria was inhibited noncompetitively, as in human brain synaptosomes. BP-N-methylbutylamine was not oxidized by MAO-A and -B. The effects of other BP-N-methylalkylamines, such as BP-N-methylethylamine, -propylamine, and -pentanylamine, on MAO activity were examined. BP-N-methylbutylamine was the most potent inhibitor of MAO-A, and BP-N-methylethylamine and -propylamine inhibited MAO-B competitively, whereas BP-N-methylbutylamine and -pentanylamine inhibited it noncompetitively. Inhibition of these BP-N-methylalkylamines on MAO-A and -B is discussed in relation to their chemical structure.

Pharmacological evaluation of 2-(4-methylaminobutoxy)diphenylmethane hydrochloride (MCI-2016), a new psychotropic drug with antidepressant activity.[Pubmed:7197535]

Arzneimittelforschung. 1981;31(8):1278-85.

Pharmacological properties of 2-(4-methylamino-butoxy)-diphenylmethane hydrochloride (MCI-2016) were examined in comparison with those of other antidepressants. MCI-2016 significantly antagonized the hypothermia and depression-like syndrome produced by reserpine injection. Furthermore, the drug exhibited such activities as antitetrabenazine and anti-cataleptic actions, and potentiation of the behavioural excitation induced by yohimbine, methamphetamine and L-dopa. MCI-2016 showed a definite suppressive effect on muricidal activity in olfactory bulb removed rats and the long-term isolation-induced fighting in mice without causing apparent motor disturbance. Judging from the effects of the drug on in vitro response to noradrenaline (NA) and serotonin (5-HT), and on p-chloramphetamine-induced hypermotility, it is suggested that MCI-2016 is a selective potentiator of NA presumably due to an inhibition of NA uptake. Anticholinergic and sedative actions of MCI-2016 were considerably weaker than those of amitriptyline and imipramine. Acute toxicity of MCI-2016 was the weakest among the drugs tested. These pharmacological profiles may suggest a potential clinical utility of MCI-2016 as a new psychotropic agent having an antidepressant activity.