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DOI: 10.1080/01926230500385549
Characterization of the Inflammatory Response to a Highly Selective PDE4 Inhibitor in the Rat and the Identification of Biomarkers that Correlate with Toxicity
1 ICOS Corporation, Bothell, Washington 98021, USA Correspondence: Address correspondence to: Gregory N. Dietsch, ICOS Corporation, 22021 20th Avenue SE, Bothell, WA 98021, 425-485-1900; e-mail:gdietsch{at}icos.com The primary toxicity associated with repeated oral administration of the PDE4 inhibitor IC542 to the rat is an inflammatory response leading to tissue damage primarily in the gastrointestinal tract and mesentery. Although necrotizing vasculitis is frequently seen with other PDE4 inhibitors, blood vessel injury was rare following IC542 administration and was always associated with inflammation in the surrounding tissue. The incidence and severity of the histologic changes in these studies correlated with elevated peripheral blood leukocytes, serum IL-6, haptoglobin, and fibrinogen, and with decreased serum albumin. By monitoring haptoglobin, fibrinogen and serum albumin changes in IC542-treated rats, it was possible to identify rats with early histologic changes that were reversible. Since PDE4 inhibition is generally associated with anti-inflammatory activity, extensive inflammation in multiple tissues was unexpected with IC542. Co-administration of dexamethasone completely blocked IC542-induced clinical and histologic changes in the rat, confirming the toxicity resulted from inflammatory response. In addition, IC542 augmented release of the proinflammatory cytokine IL-6 in LPS-activated whole blood from rats but not monkeys or humans. The effect of IC542 on IL-6 release from rat leukocytes in vitro is consistent with the proinflammatory response observed in vivo and demonstrates species differences to PDE4 inhibition.
Key Words: Biomarkers inflammation interleukin-6 (IL-6) phosphodiesterase phosphodiesterase type 4 (PDE4) rat toxicity vascular injury Abbreviations: ANOVA, Analysis of variance BLQ, below the lower limit of quantitation cAMP, cyclic adenosine monophosphate DMSO, dimethylsulfoxide ELISA, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay EDTA, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid GALT, gut-associated lymphoid tissue HPLC, high performance liquid chromatography IL-6, interleukin-6 LPS, lipopolysaccharide MCP-1, macrophage chemoattractant protein 1 MCP-3, macrophage chemoattractant protein 3 PBLs, peripheral blood leukocytes PDE, phosphodiesterase PDE4, phosphodiesterase type 4 PEG400, polyethylene glycol 400 TNF-
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