loratadine, Claritin
Anticholinergic effects of desloratadine, the major metabolite of loratadine, in rabbit and guinea-pig iris smooth muscle.

Cardelus I, Anton F, Beleta J, Palacios JM.

Almirall Prodesfarma, Research Center, Pharmacology Department, Barcelona, Spain. icardelu almirallprodesfarma.com

Allergic conjunctivitis is the most common ocular allergic disease. Although very symptomatic it does not endanger vision, and topical antihistamines or chromones are the first choice treatment in clinical practice. Recently, equivalent nanomolar affinities for histamine H and muscarinic M 1 and M3 cloned human receptors have been reported for desloratadine, the active metabolite of loratadine, a widely prescribed antihistamine. This property might enhance its utility in the treatment of asthma, but could induce adverse anticholinergic effects after topical administration. In the present study, we compare the anticholinergic activity of desloratadine with other known muscarinic antagonists and antihistamines on rabbit and guinea-pig iris smooth muscle. Desloratadine was found to be a competitive antagonist (pA2 = 6.67+/-0.09) of carbachol-induced contractions in isolated rabbit iris smooth muscle. Atropine (pA2 = 9.44+/-0.02) and NPC-14695 (pA2 = 9.18+/-0.03) also behaved as competitive antagonists, whereas tiotropium bromide (pD'2 = 9.06+/-0.02) exhibited a non-competitive behaviour in this tissue. Carebastine (pA2 = 5.64+/-0.04) and fexofenadine (pA2 < 4.0) were also studied. After topical administration on the guinea-pig eye conjunctiva, desloratadine produced a potent (ED50 = 2.3 mg/ml) and long lasting mydriasis (> 120 min at the ED50) in conscious animals. Fexofenadine and carebastine were inactive even at the highest concentration tested (10 mg/ml). Atropine (ED50 = 30 microg/ml) and tiotropium bromide (ED50 = 10 microg/ml) were much more potent than desloratadine or pirenzepine (ED50 = 3 mg/ml) in this model. The competitive muscarinic antagonism of desloratadine in vitro, and its potency and duration of action in vivo, suggest that topical treatment of allergic conjunctivitis and rhinitis with desloratadine could produce undesirable peripheral anticholinergic side effects such as mydriasis and xerostomia.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10422766&dopt=Abstract loratadine, Claritin



loratadine, Claritin
Simultaneous determination of montelukast and loratadine by HPLC and derivative spectrophotometric methods.

Radhakrishna T, Narasaraju A, Ramakrishna M, Satyanarayana A.

Department of Physical Chemistry, School of Chemistry, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam 530 003, AP, India.

In this study, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and second derivative spectrophotometry have been used and described for the simultaneous determination of montelukast and loratadine in pharmaceutical formulations. HPLC separation was achieved with a Symmetry C18 column and sodium phosphate buffer (pH adjusted to 3.7): acetonitrile (20:80, v/v) as eluent, at a flow rate of 1.0 ml/min. UV detection was performed at 225 nm. The LC method is simple, rapid, selective and stability indicating for the determination of montelukast. 5-Methyl 2-nitrophenol was used as internal standard for the purpose of quantification of both the drugs in HPLC. In the second-order derivative spectrophotometry, for the determination of loratadine the zero-crossing technique was applied at 276.1 nm, but for montelukast peak amplitude at 359.7 nm (tangent method) was used. Both methods were fully validated and a comparison was made for assay determination of selected drugs in formulations. The results confirm that the methods are highly suitable for its intended purpose.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12609675&dopt=Abstract loratadine, Claritin



loratadine, Claritin
Blood basophil numbers in chronic ordinary urticaria and healthy controls: diurnal variation, influence of loratadine and prednisolone and relationship to disease activity.

Grattan CE, Dawn G, Gibbs S, Francis DM.

Department of Dermatology, Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital NHS Trust, Colney, Norfolk NR4 7UZ, UK. clive.grattan nnuh.nhs.uk

BACKGROUND: The basopenia of chronic urticaria relates to histamine releasing autoantibodies in the serum of patients with autoimmune urticaria. This reduction in circulating basophils may be due to active recruitment into weals. If so, it might be expected that numbers in blood would be reduced when urticaria is active and increased after treatment. The primary aim of this study was to look at diurnal variation of basophil numbers in patients with chronic ordinary urticaria (not physical or vasculitic) in relation to disease activity and the effect of treatment with antihistamines and corticosteroids, and to compare the results with healthy controls. A secondary aim was to compare a standard manual counting method with automated basophil counts and to look at numbers of other circulating leucocytes that might be relevant to urticaria pathogenesis. METHODS: Manual basophil counts using a toluidine blue stain and automated 5-part differentials (Coulter Gen. S) were performed at 4-hourly intervals from 08.00 to 20.00 in 10 healthy controls (six women, age 24 to 63 years) and seven chronic urticaria patients (five women, 24 to 50 years). All chronic urticaria patients had severe daily or almost daily urticaria. Only one of six chronic urticaria sera showed in vitro basophil histamine releasing activity. Counts were performed without treatment, after a week of taking loratadine 10 mg daily and after 3 days of adding prednisolone at 0.6 mg/kg/day (maximum 40 mg). Daily urticarial activity scores (UAS) were derived from weal numbers and itch, maximum 7. RESULTS: There was no significant overall diurnal variation of basophil numbers in healthy controls or chronic urticaria patients. Mean (SE) manually counted basophil were higher in healthy controls than chronic urticaria (43.4/ microL (2.1) vs. 4.4 (0.8), P < 0.001). Basophil counts were reduced in healthy controls on steroids (19.2 (1.9), P < 0.001) but increased in chronic urticaria (8.9 (1.9), P < 0.001). Loratadine did not influence them. UAS fell on treatment (3.3 (0.4) baseline, 1.4 (0.5) on loratadine and 0.5 (0.2) on prednisolone with loratadine, P < 0.001). There was a negative linear correlation between basophil numbers and UAS in untreated chronic urticaria patients (P = 0.001, Spearman rank correlation). Manual and automated basophil counts showed poor agreement. Lymphocyte numbers were lower in chronic urticaria than healthy controls. Neutrophils increased whereas lymphocytes and eosinophils decreased in all subjects on prednisolone. They were unaffected by loratadine. CONCLUSION: The results are consistent with the hypothesis that circulating basophils may be recruited from blood into urticarial weals during disease activity. Automated counts are not suitable for assessing basophil numbers in chronic urticaria. The relevance of reduced lymphocyte numbers in chronic urticaria needs to be explored.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12614448&dopt=Abstract loratadine, Claritin



loratadine, Claritin
Capillary electrophoresis determination of loratadine and related impurities.

Fernandez H, Ruperez FJ, Barbas C.

Facultad de CC Experimentales y de la Salud, Universidad San Pablo-CEU, Urbanizacion Monteprincipe, Ctra. Boadilla del Monte, km 5.3, 28668 Madrid, Spain.

While HPLC has traditionally been the method of choice for purity determination of pharmaceutical substances, capillary electrophoresis (CE) offers a different selectivity and hence it is a complementary technique to HPLC. Loratadine, an antihistamine, could include in its raw material seven impurities that ought to be separated, identified and quantified for drug development and quality control. As a complementary tool for undoubtful identification, a CE method has been developed. The separation was carried out with an uncoated fused-silica capillary (57 cm x 50 microm ID) and was operated at 20 kV potential. Temperature was maintained at 25 degrees C. The final separation buffer was prepared with 100 mM H(3)PO(4) made up to pH 2.5 with NaOH and with 10% acetonitrile added (v/v). Impurities can be detected at the 0.1% level of the active and validation parameters for linearity accuracy and precision are adequate for all the analytes and that permits to consider the method reliable and suitable for application to long-term stability and purity studies.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12615237&dopt=Abstract loratadine, Claritin



loratadine, Claritin
Comparative antiallergic effects of second-generation H1-antihistamines ebastine, cetirizine and loratadine in preclinical models.

Llupia J, Gras J, Llenas J.

Department of Pharmacological Development, Almirall Prodesfarma, Research Centre, Cardener 68-74, 08024-Barcelona, Spain. jllupia almirallprodesfarma.com

Ebastine (CAS 90729-43-4), cetirizine (CAS 83881-51-0) and loratadine (CAS 79794-75-5) are second generation H1-antihistamines of proven efficacy for treating allergy. Recent clinical studies have found ebastine to be more effective than cetirizine or loratadine in alleviating the symptoms of seasonal allergic rhinitis. The objective of this study was to compare the efficacy of these compounds in three guinea-pig modeles of bronchoconstriction, elicited either by histamine, allergen or leukotriene C4 in order to shed light onto the mechanisms that might explain differences found in clinical studies. In the present experiments, ebastine and cetirizine were equipotent against aerosol histamine-induced bronchospasm in guinea pigs (ED50 115 and 100 micrograms/kg p.o., respectively), while loratadine was three-fold less potent. In the same model the effects of ebastine, loratadine and cetirizine lasted 21, 19 and 15 h, respectively. Ebastine (ED50 334 micrograms/kg p.o.) was the most potent compound in inhibiting allergen-induced bronchospasm in conscious guinea pigs. In vitro studies in tracheally perfused guinea pig lungs demonstrated that ebastine and loratadine inhibited with equal potency the bronchoconstriction induced by leukotriene C4 whilst cetirizine was significantly less potent. Finally, in another in vivo study, ebastine reverted the changes in pulmonary resistance induced by leukotriene C4 in anaesthetised guinea pigs, whereas cetirizine and loratadine were devoid of activity in this model. In accordance with the clinical data, ebastine proved to be the substance with the widest range of application in animal experiments, too.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12642964&dopt=Abstract loratadine, Claritin



loratadine, Claritin
Pharmacological characterization of the novel histamine H3-receptor antagonist N-(3,5-dichlorophenyl)-N'-[[4-(1H-imidazol-4-ylmethyl)phenyl]-methyl]-urea (SCH 79687).

McLeod RL, Rizzo CA, West RE Jr, Aslanian R, McCormick K, Bryant M, Hsieh Y, Korfmacher W, Mingo GG, Varty L, Williams SM, Shih NY, Egan RW, Hey JA.

Allergy, Schering-Plough Research Institute, 2015 Galloping Hill Rd., Kenilworth, NJ 07033-0539,USA. robbie.mcleod spcorp.com

We present the pharmacological and pharmacokinetic profiles of a novel histamine H3 receptor antagonist, N-(3,5-dichlorophenyl)-N'-[[4-(1H-imidazol-4-ylmethyl)phenyl]-methyl]-urea (SCH 79687). The H3-receptor binding Ki values for SCH 79687 were 1.9 and 13 nM in the rat and guinea pig (GP), respectively. The Ki values for SCH 79687 at histamine H1 and H2 receptors were greater than 1 microM. SCH 79687 showed a 41- and 82-fold binding selectivity for the H3 receptor over alpha 2A-adrenoceptors and imidazoline I2, and >500-fold H3 selectivity compared with over 60 additional receptors. The pA2 value for SCH 79687 in the GP ileum electrical field-stimulated (EFS) contraction was 9.6 +/- 0.3. Similar H3 antagonist activity was observed in the EFS cryopreserved and fresh tissue isolated human saphenous vein (HSV) assays (pKb = 9.4 +/- 0.3 and 10.1 +/- 0.4). SCH 79687 (30 nM) did not block clonidine-induced inhibition of EFS-induced contractions in HSV. SCH 79687 (ED50 = 0.3 mg/kg i.v.) attenuated (R)-alpha-methylhistamine inhibition of sympathetic hypertensive responses in the GP. At the time of activity evaluation, the GP plasma SCH 79687 concentration was 25 ng/ml at the dose of 0.3 mg/kg i.v. In feline nasal studies, combined administration of SCH 79687 (3 mg/kg i.v.) and the H1-antagonist loratadine (3 mg/kg i.v.), at individual doses that do not produce decongestion, inhibited the compound 48/80-induced congestion by 47%. The alpha-adrenergic agonist phenylpropanolamine (PPA; 1 mg/kg i.v.) also attenuated compound 48/80 nasal responses by 42%. Unlike the H3/H1 combination that did not affect blood pressure (BP), PPA (1 mg/kg i.v.) significantly increased BP compared with control animals by a maximum of 31 mm Hg. Orally, SCH 79687 (10 mg/kg) plus loratadine (10 mg/kg) also produced decongestion without effects on BP. In pharmacokinetic studies, oral dosing with SCH 79687 in the rat (10 mg/kg) and monkey (3 mg/kg) achieved plasma Cmax and area under the curve values greater than 1.5 and 12.1 microg. h/ml, respectively. SCH 79687 is an orally active H3 antagonist with a good pharmacokinetic profile that, in combination with an H1 antagonist, demonstrates decongestant efficacy comparable with oral sympathomimetic decongestants but without hypertensive liabilities.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12649305&dopt=Abstract loratadine, Claritin