Study summary · research use only
Tesofensine, a novel triple monoamine re-uptake inhibitor with anti-obesity effects: dopamine transporter occupancy as measured by PET
Plain-language summary
Paraphrased from the published abstract below — not a verdict on whether anything works.
In this human positron emission tomography study using a betaCIT-FE tracer, the authors assessed striatal dopamine transporter (DAT) occupancy at steady state after multiple oral doses of the triple monoamine re-uptake inhibitor tesofensine (TE) over 8-12 days. They report TE produced dose-dependent DAT blockade across doses of 0.125-1 mg, with mean striatal DAT occupancy varying between 18% and 77%. A sigmoid Emax model described the relationship between occupancy and TE plasma concentrations or doses. The authors estimated maximum achievable occupancy at about 80%, with half reached by approximately 0.25 mg TE and a plasma concentration of 4 ng/ml.
Abstract
Tesofensine (TE) is a novel triple monoamine re-uptake inhibitor inducing a potent inhibition of the re-uptake process in the synaptic cleft of the neurotransmitters dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. In recent preclinical and clinical evaluations TE showed a robust anti-obesity effect, but the specific mechanism of this triple monoamine re-uptake inhibitor still needs to be further elucidated. This positron emission tomography (PET) study, using [¹¹C]βCIT-FE, aimed to assess the degree of the dopamine transporter (DAT) occupancy, at constant TE plasma levels, following different oral, multiple doses of TE during totally 8-12 days. In addition, the relationships between DAT occupancy and TE plasma concentrations, or doses, were investigated to enable assessment of DAT occupancies in subsequent clinical trials. The results demonstrated that TE induced a dose-dependent blockade of DAT following multiple doses of 0.125-1 mg TE at anticipated steady-state conditions. The mean striatal DAT occupancy varied dose-dependently between 18% and 77%. A sigmoid E(max) model well described the relationship between striatal DAT occupancy and TE plasma concentrations or doses. It was estimated that the maximum achievable DAT occupancy was about 80% and that half of this effect was accomplished by approximately 0.25 mg TE and a plasma drug concentration of 4 ng/ml. The results indicated an important mechanism of action of TE on DAT. Further, these results suggest that the previously reported dose-dependent weight loss, in TE treated subjects, was in part mediated by an up-regulation of dopaminergic pathways due to enhanced amounts of synaptic dopamine after blockade of DAT.
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