Novel Drug-Like Somatostatin Receptor 4 Agonists are Potential Analgesics for Neuropathic Pain

Abstract

Somatostatin released from the capsaicin-sensitive sensory nerves mediates analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects via the somatostatin sst₄ receptor without endocrine actions. Therefore, sst₄ is considered to be a novel target for drug development in pain including chronic neuropathy, which is an emerging unmet medical need. Here, we examined the in silico binding, the sst₄-linked G-protein activation on stable receptor expressing cells (1 nM to 10 μM), and the effects of our novel pyrrolo-pyrimidine molecules in mouse inflammatory and neuropathic pain models. All four of the tested compounds (C1-C4) bind to the same binding site of the sst₄ receptor with similar interaction energy to high-affinity reference sst₄ agonists, and they all induce G-protein activation. C1 is the more efficacious (γ-GTP-binding: 218.2% ± 36.5%) and most potent (EC₅₀: 37 nM) ligand. In vivo testing of the actions of orally administered C1 and C2 (500 µg/kg) showed that only C1 decreased the resiniferatoxin-induced acute neurogenic inflammatory thermal allodynia and mechanical hyperalgesia significantly. Meanwhile, both of them remarkably reduced partial sciatic nerve ligation-induced chronic neuropathic mechanical hyperalgesia after a single oral administration of the 500 µg/kg dose. These orally active novel sst₄ agonists exert potent anti-hyperalgesic effect in a chronic neuropathy model, and therefore, they can open promising drug developmental perspectives.