Topical lipoic acid choline ester eye drop for improvement of near visual acuity in subjects with presbyopia: a safety and preliminary efficacy trial

Objectives This study evaluated the safety of topical lipoic acid choline ester (UNR844, 1.5%) ophthalmic solution and its efficacy in improving distance-corrected near visual acuity (DCNVA) in subjects with presbyopia. Subjects and methods This was a prospective, randomized, double-masked, and multicentre clinical trial. Subjects with a diagnosis of presbyopia (n = 75) were randomized 2:1 to UNR844 or placebo. On days 1–7, all subjects were dosed unilaterally (twice a day, b.i.d.) in their non-dominant eye to ensure safety and tolerability prior to days 8–91 when dosing was changed to bilateral (b.i.d.). Clinical assessments, including DCNVA and adverse events (AEs), were recorded at each study visit. Patients who completed the study were recruited into a non-interventional follow-up study that monitored them until 7 months after their final UNR844 exposure. The primary endpoints were safety and the mean change in DCNVA from baseline in the study eye. Results UNR844 administration (n = 50) produced no safety concerns and was well-tolerated, with no clinically-relevant changes in best-corrected distance visual acuity, pupil size, intraocular pressure, or discontinuations due to adverse events. DCNVA improved in the study eye in the UNR844 group compared to placebo during the 91 days of treatment [UNR844 vs. placebo, mean change in LogMAR (SD); −0.159 (0.120) vs. −0.079 (0.116)]. Bilateral DCNVA improved, with 53.1% UNR844 vs. 21.7% placebo subjects gaining ≥10 letters. Improvements in DCNVA were sustained at 5 and 7 months after UNR844 dosing ceased. Conclusions These results support further development of UNR844 ophthalmic solution for the treatment of presbyopia.

Hereditary pseudocholinesterase deficiency discovery after electroconvulsive therapy

Inherited pseudocholinesterase deficiency refers to an uncommon defect in the butyrylcholinesterase enzyme which can result in prolonged muscle paralysis due to delayed breakdown of choline ester paralytic anaesthetic agents. We describe a 25-year-old woman receiving electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for treatment of depression in whom motor function did not recover adequately after administration of succinylcholine. Investigated post-ECT, she was found to have severe pseudocholinesterase deficiency. Implications of pseudocholinesterase deficiency for ECT treatment and anaesthetic strategies are discussed.

Activator-induced quencher-detachment-based turn-on probe with a cationic substrate moiety for acetylcholinestera

We report a choline ester-grafted turn-on fluorescence probe to detect acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in living cells. AChE-mediated hydrolysis of the choline ester moiety producing carboxylate initiates the activation of Cy5 fluorophore...

Synthesis, Formulation, and Adjuvanticity of Monodesmosidic Saponins with Olenanolic Acid, Hederagenin and Gypsogenin Aglycones, and some C-28 Ester Derivatives

© 2015 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA. In an attempt to discover a new synthetic vaccine adjuvant, the glycosylation of hederagenin, gypsogenin, and oleanolic acid acceptors with di- and trisaccharide donors to generate a range of mimics of natural product QS-21 was carried out. The saponins were formulated with phosphatidylcholine and cholesterol, and the structures analyzed by transmission electron microscopy. 3-O-(Manp(1→3)Glcp)hederagenin was found to produce numerous ring-like micelles when formulated, while C-28 choline ester derivatives preferred self-assembly and did not interact with the liposomes. When alone and in the presence of cholesterol and phospholipid, the choline ester derivatives produced nanocrystalline rods or helical micelles. The effects of modifying sugar stereochemistry and the aglycone on the immunostimulatory effects of the saponins was then evaluated using the activation markers MHC class II and CD86 in murine bone marrow dendritic cells. The most active saponin, 3-O-(Manp(1→3)Glcp)hederagenin, was stimulatory at high concentrations in cell culture, but this did not translate to strong responses in vivo.

Synthesis, Formulation, and Adjuvanticity of Monodesmosidic Saponins with Olenanolic Acid, Hederagenin and Gypsogenin Aglycones, and some C-28 Ester Derivatives

© 2015 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA. In an attempt to discover a new synthetic vaccine adjuvant, the glycosylation of hederagenin, gypsogenin, and oleanolic acid acceptors with di- and trisaccharide donors to generate a range of mimics of natural product QS-21 was carried out. The saponins were formulated with phosphatidylcholine and cholesterol, and the structures analyzed by transmission electron microscopy. 3-O-(Manp(1→3)Glcp)hederagenin was found to produce numerous ring-like micelles when formulated, while C-28 choline ester derivatives preferred self-assembly and did not interact with the liposomes. When alone and in the presence of cholesterol and phospholipid, the choline ester derivatives produced nanocrystalline rods or helical micelles. The effects of modifying sugar stereochemistry and the aglycone on the immunostimulatory effects of the saponins was then evaluated using the activation markers MHC class II and CD86 in murine bone marrow dendritic cells. The most active saponin, 3-O-(Manp(1→3)Glcp)hederagenin, was stimulatory at high concentrations in cell culture, but this did not translate to strong responses in vivo.

High-Affinity Transport of Choline-O-Sulfate and Its Use as a Compatible Solute inBacillus subtilis

ABSTRACT We report here that the naturally occurring choline ester choline-O-sulfate serves as an effective compatible solute for Bacillus subtilis, and we have identified a high-affinity ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transport system responsible for its uptake. The osmoprotective effect of this trimethylammonium compound closely matches that of the potent and widely employed osmoprotectant glycine betaine. Growth experiments with a set ofB. subtilis strains carrying defined mutations in the glycine betaine uptake systems OpuA, OpuC, and OpuD and in the high-affinity choline transporter OpuB revealed that choline-O-sulfate was specifically acquired from the environment via OpuC. Competition experiments demonstrated that choline-O-sulfate functioned as an effective competitive inhibitor for OpuC-mediated glycine betaine uptake, with aKi of approximately 4 μM. Uptake studies with [1,2-dimethyl-14C]choline-O-sulfate showed that its transport was stimulated by high osmolality, and kinetic analysis revealed that OpuC has high affinity for choline-O-sulfate, with a Km value of 4 ± 1 μM and a maximum rate of transport (V max) of 54 ± 3 nmol/min · mg of protein in cells grown in minimal medium with 0.4 M NaCl. Growth studies utilizing a B. subtilis mutant defective in the choline to glycine betaine synthesis pathway and natural abundance13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of whole-cell extracts from the wild-type strain demonstrated that choline-O-sulfate was accumulated in the cytoplasm and was not hydrolyzed to choline by B. subtilis. In contrast, the osmoprotective effect of acetylcholine for B. subtilis is dependent on its biotransformation into glycine betaine. Choline-O-sulfate was not used as the sole carbon, nitrogen, or sulfur source, and our findings thus characterize this choline ester as an effective compatible solute and metabolically inert stress compound for B. subtilis. OpuC mediates the efficient transport not only of glycine betaine and choline-O-sulfate but also of carnitine, crotonobetaine, and γ-butyrobetaine (R. Kappes and E. Bremer, Microbiology 144:83–90, 1998). Thus, our data underscore its crucial role in the acquisition of a variety of osmoprotectants from the environment byB. subtilis.