Administration of a synthetic dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibitor methionyl-2(S)-cyanopyrrolidine (1 mg/kg) to rats during the early postnatal period was followed by the development of behavioral changes in young and adult animals. The degree of anxiety in the elevated plus maze increased in treated rats at the age of 1-2 months. Depressive behavior in the forced swimming test was typical of animals aging 2-3 months. Diazepam reduced the severity of anxiety in treated rats. Melipramine had a normalizing effect on swimming behavior. A novel prolyl endopeptidase inhibitor benzyloxycarbonyl-methionyl-2(S)-cyanopyrrolidine had the antidepressant properties.
Activities of prolyl endopeptidase and dipeptidyl peptidase IV in the frontal cortex, hypothalamus, nucleus accumbens, striatum, and hippocampus were measured in rats with the experimental anxious-depressive syndrome induced by treatment with a dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibitor during the early postnatal period (days 5-18). Prolyl endopeptidase activity was elevated in the frontal cortex, hypothalamus, and nucleus accumbens. Increased activity of dipeptidyl peptidase IV was observed in the hypothalamus and striatum. Norepinephrine/serotonin reuptake inhibitor, imipramine, and noncompetitive prolyl endopeptidase inhibitor, benzyloxycarbonyl-methionyl-2(S)-cyanopyrrolidine, were shown to abolish depression-like behavior of animals in the forced swimming test. These compounds had a normalizing effect on activities of prolyl endopeptidase and dipeptidyl peptidase IV in brain structures of rats.
Experiments on adult Wistar rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes showed that antihyperglycemic activity of an original nootropic and neuroprotective drug Noopept (N-phenylacetyl-L-prolylglycine ethyl ester) is more pronounced under conditions of oral application than after intraperitoneal injection. These data provided a basis for studying the effect of Noopept on major indexes of the incretin system. Streptozotocin was shown to decrease the concentrations of incretin GLP-1 and insulin in the blood. Noopept had a normalizing effect on these parameters. This influence of Noopept was not related to the inhibition of a major enzyme metabolizing incretins (dipeptidyl peptidase IV). A reference drug sitagliptin also increased the contents of incretins and insulin, which was associated with the inhibition of dipeptidyl peptidase IV. It is known that GLP-1 increases NGF expression in the insular system. Our results suggest that the increase in incretin activity contributes to the antiapoptotic effect of Noopept on pancreatic β cells. The mechanism for an increase in blood GLP-1 level after oral application of Noopept requires further investigations.
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