@article {Griggsjpet.115.231167, author = {David W Griggs and Michael J Prinsen and Jonathan Oliva and Mary A Campbell and Stacy D Arnett and Deena Tajfirouz and Peter G Ruminski and Ying Yu and Brian Bond and Yuhua Ji and Georg Neckermann and Robert K Choy and Eugenio de Hostos and Marvin J Meyers}, title = {Pharmacologic Comparison of Clinical Neutral Endopeptidase Inhibitors in a Rat Model of Acute Secretory Diarrhea}, elocation-id = {jpet.115.231167}, year = {2016}, doi = {10.1124/jpet.115.231167}, publisher = {American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics}, abstract = {Racecadotril (acetorphan) is a neutral endopeptidase (NEP) inhibitor with known anti-diarrheal activity in animals and humans. However, it suffers from shortcomings in humans that might be improved upon with newer drugs in this class that have progressed to the clinic for non-enteric disease indications. To identify potentially superior NEP inhibitors with immediate clinical utility for diarrhea treatment, we compared their efficacy and pharmacologic properties in a rat intestinal hypersecretion model. Racecadotril and seven other clinical-stage inhibitors of NEP were obtained or synthesized. Enzyme potency and specificity were compared using purified peptidases. Compounds were orally administered to rats before administration of castor oil to induce diarrhea. Stool weight was recorded over four hours. To assess other pharmacologic properties, select compounds were orally administered to normal or castor oil-treated rats, blood and tissue samples collected at multiple time points, and active compound concentrations determined by mass spectroscopy. NEP enzyme activity was measured in tissue homogenates. Three previously untested clinical NEP inhibitors delayed diarrhea onset and reduced total stool output, with little or no effect on intestinal motility assessed by the charcoal meal test. Each was shown to be a potent, highly specific inhibitor of NEP. Each exhibited greater suppression of NEP activity in intestinal and non-intestinal tissues than racecadotril, and sustained this inhibition longer. These results suggest newer clinical-stage NEP inhibitors originally developed for other indications may be directly repositioned for treatment of acute secretory diarrhea and offer advantages over racecadotril, such as less frequent dosing and potentially improved efficacy.}, issn = {0022-3565}, URL = {https://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/early/2016/02/23/jpet.115.231167}, eprint = {https://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/early/2016/02/23/jpet.115.231167.full.pdf}, journal = {Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics} }