Grigoletto Jessica, Miraglia Fabiana, Benvenuti Laura, Pellegrini Carolina, Soldi Sara, Galletti Serena, Cattaneo Antonino, Pich Emilio Merlo, Grimaldi Maria, Colla Emanuela, Vesci Loredana
Bio@SNS Laboratory, Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, 56126, Pisa, Italy.
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Via Roma 55, 56126, Pisa, Italy.
NPJ Parkinsons Dis. 2023 Oct 2;9(1):140. doi: 10.1038/s41531-023-00582-1.
In patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), constipation is common, and it appears in a prodromal stage before the hallmark motor symptoms. The present study aimed to investigate whether Velusetrag, a selective 5‑HT4 receptor agonist, may be a suitable candidate to improve intestinal motility in a mouse model of PD. Five months old PrP human A53T alpha-synuclein transgenic (Tg) mice, which display severe constipation along with decreased colonic cholinergic transmission already at 3 months, were treated daily with the drug for 4 weeks. Velusetrag treatment reduced constipation by significantly stimulating both the longitudinal and circular-driven contractions and improved inflammation by reducing the level of serum and colonic IL1β and TNF-α and by decreasing the number of GFAP-positive glia cells in the colon of treated mice. No significant downregulation of the 5-HT4 receptor was observed but instead Velusetrag seemed to improve axonal degeneration in Tgs as shown by an increase in NF-H and VAChT staining. Ultimately, Velusetrag restored a well-balanced intestinal microbial composition comparable to non-Tg mice. Based on these promising data, we are confident that Velusetrag is potentially eligible for clinical studies to treat constipation in PD patients.
在帕金森病(PD)患者中,便秘很常见,且出现在标志性运动症状之前的前驱期。本研究旨在调查选择性5-HT4受体激动剂维芦司特是否可能是改善PD小鼠模型肠道蠕动的合适候选药物。对5月龄的PrP人类A53Tα-突触核蛋白转基因(Tg)小鼠进行研究,这些小鼠在3个月大时就已出现严重便秘以及结肠胆碱能传递减少的情况,每天用该药物治疗4周。维芦司特治疗通过显著刺激纵向和环形驱动收缩减轻了便秘,并通过降低血清和结肠IL1β及TNF-α水平以及减少治疗小鼠结肠中GFAP阳性胶质细胞数量改善了炎症。未观察到5-HT4受体的显著下调,相反,如NF-H和VAChT染色增加所示,维芦司特似乎改善了Tg小鼠的轴突变性。最终,维芦司特恢复了与非Tg小鼠相当的平衡良好的肠道微生物组成。基于这些有前景的数据,我们相信维芦司特有可能有资格进行治疗PD患者便秘的临床研究。