TY - JOUR T1 - Subchronic Administration and Combination Metabotropic Glutamate and GABA<sub>B</sub> Receptor Drug Therapy in Fragile X Syndrome JF - Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics JO - J Pharmacol Exp Ther SP - 897 LP - 905 DO - 10.1124/jpet.111.183327 VL - 338 IS - 3 AU - Laura K. K. Pacey AU - Sujeenthar Tharmalingam AU - David R. Hampson Y1 - 2011/09/01 UR - http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/338/3/897.abstract N2 - The most common cause of inherited mental retardation, fragile X syndrome, results from a triplet repeat expansion in the FMR1 gene and loss of the mRNA binding protein, fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP). In the absence of FMRP, signaling through group I metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) is enhanced. We previously proposed a mechanism whereby the audiogenic seizures exhibited by FMR1 null mice result from an imbalance in excitatory mGluR and inhibitory GABAB receptor (GABABR) signaling (Mol Pharmacol 76:18–24, 2009). Here, we tested the mGluR5-positive allosteric modulator 3-cyano-N-(1,3-diphenyl-1H-pyrazol-5-yl)benzamide (CDPPB), the mGluR5 inverse agonist 2-methyl-6-(phenylethynyl)pyridine (MPEP), and GABAB receptor agonists, alone and in combination on receptor protein expression and audiogenic seizures in FMR1 mice. Single doses of MPEP (30 mg/kg), the GABABR orthosteric agonist R-baclofen (1 mg/kg), or the GABABR-positive allosteric modulator N,N′-dicyclopentyl-2-(methylthio)-5-nitro-4,6-pyrimidine diamine (GS-39783) (30 mg/kg), reduced the incidence of seizures. However, when administered subchronically (daily injections for 6 days), MPEP retained its anticonvulsant activity, whereas R-baclofen and GS-39783 did not. When administered at lower doses that had no effect when given alone, a single injection of MPEP plus R-baclofen also reduced seizures, but the effect was lost after subchronic administration. We were surprised to find that subchronic treatment with R-baclofen also induced tolerance to a single high dose of MPEP. These data demonstrate that tolerance develops rapidly to the antiseizure properties of R-baclofen alone and R-baclofen coadministered with MPEP, but not with MPEP alone. Our findings suggest that cross-talk between the G-protein signaling pathways of these receptors affects drug efficacy after repeated treatment. ER -