Roflumilast (Synonyms: B 9302107, BY 217, BYK 20869)

Kinase experiment:

PDE activity is determined with some modifications. The assay mixture contain 50 mM Tris (pH 7.4), 5 mM MgCl2, 0.5 μM cAMP or cGMP, and [3H]cAMP or [3H]cGMP (about 30,000 cpm/assay), the indicated concentration of the inhibitor and an aliquot of the enzyme solution at a final assay volume of 200 μL. Stock solutions of the compounds are diluted 1:100 (v/v) in the Tris buffer mentioned above; appropriate dilutions are prepared in 1% (v/v) DMSO/Tris buffer, which are diluted 1:2 (v/v) in the assays to obtain the desired final concentrations of the inhibitors at a DMSO concentration of 0.5% (v/v). DMSO itself affected none of the PDE activities. After preincubation for 5 min at 37°C, the reaction is started by the addition of substrate (cAMP or cGMP) and the assays are incubated for further 15 min at 37°C. Then 50 μL of 0.2 N HCl is added to stop the reaction and the assays are left on ice for about 10 min. Following incubation with 25 μg of 5′-nucleotidase (Crotalus atrox snake venom) for 10 min at 37°C, the assays are loaded on QAE Sephadex A-25 (1 mL of bed volume in Poly-Prep chromatography columns). The columns are eluted with 2 mL of 30 mM ammonium formate (pH 6.0) and the eluate is counted for radioactivity. Results are corrected for blank values (measured in the presence of denatured protein) that are below 5% of total radioactivity. The amount of cyclic nucleotides hydrolyzed did not exceed 30% of the original substrate concentration[3].

Animal experiment:

Mice[4]WT or pIgR?/? mice are used. For studies using Roflumilast, 200 μL of 0.5 mg/mL suspension of Roflumilast or vehicle (4% methylcellulose, 1.3% PEG400 and 5 μg drug per mg animal weight) is administered by oral gavage once daily, 5 days a week for the duration of treatment. Mice are treated daily by oral gavage with 100 μg of Roflumilast (5 μg/g) or vehicle (4% methylcellulose, 1.3% PEG400) for 3 months and lungs are harvested at 12 months of age.

References:

[1]. Hatzelmann A, et al. The preclinical pharmacology of roflumilast--a selective, oral phosphodiesterase 4 inhibitor in development for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Pulm Pharmacol Ther. 2010 Aug;23(4):235-56.
[2]. Rabe KF. Update on roflumilast, a phosphodiesterase 4 inhibitor for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Br J Pharmacol. 2011 May;163(1):53-67.
[3]. Hatzelmann A, et al. Anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory potential of the novel PDE4 inhibitor roflumilast in vitro. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2001 Apr;297(1):267-79.
[4]. Richmond BW, et al. Airway bacteria drive a progressive COPD-like phenotype in mice with polymeric immunoglobulin receptor deficiency. Nat Commun. 2016 Apr 5;7:11240.
[5]. Ding H, et al. Treatment of obesity-associated overactive bladder by the phosphodiesterase type-4 inhibitor roflumilast. Int Urol Nephrol. 2017 Jul 29.