Pharmacological activities of optically pure enantiomers of the kappa opioid agonist, U50,488, and its cis diastereomer: evidence for three kappa receptor subtypes.

De Costa et al. (FEBS Lett. 223, 335; 1987) recently described the synthesis of optically pure enantiomers of (+/-)-trans-3,4-dichloro-N-methyl-N-[2-(1-pyrrolidinyl)-cyclohexyl] benzeneacetamide (U50,488). In the present study we examined the in vitro opioid receptor selectivity of (-)-(1S,2S)-U50,488, (+)-(1R,2R)-U50,488 and (+/-)-cis-3,4-dichloro-N-methyl-N-[2-(1-pyrrolidinyl)-cyclohexyl] benzeneacetamide (the cis diasteromers of U50,488), as well as their pharmacological activities in rhesus monkeys. Using [3H]5 alpha,7 alpha,8 beta-(-)-N-methyl-N-[7-(1-pyrrolidinyl)-1-oxaspiro (4,5)dec-8-yl]-phenyl-benzeneacetamide ([3H]U69,593) to label kappa binding sites of guinea pig membranes, the apparent dissociation constants of the enantiomers of U50,488 were 0.89 and 299 nM, for the (S,S) and (R,R) enantiomers, respectively. The (-)-cis and (+)-cis diastereomers had apparent Kds of 167 and 2715 nM, respectively. Binding surface analysis of the interaction of (-)-(1S,2S)-U50,488 with kappa binding sites labeled by [3H]bremazocine resolved two binding sites at which (-)-(1S,2S)-U50,488 had Kds of 30 and 10,485 nM, respectively. The (+/-)-cis, (-)-cis and (+)-cis diastereomers of U50,488 (1 microM) did not inhibit [3H]bremazocine binding. Rhesus monkeys were trained to discriminate ethylketocyclazocine (EKC) and saline. All compounds tested substituted completely for EKC. The order of potency was (-)-(1S,2S)-U50,488 greater than (+/-)-U50,488 greater than (+/-)-cis diastereomer of U50,488 greater than (+)-(1R,2R)-U50,488.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)