Novel 5-HT7 receptor antagonists modulate intestinal immune responses and reduce severity of colitis

Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol. 2024 Jul 1;327(1):G57-G69. doi: 10.1152/ajpgi.00299.2023. Epub 2024 May 7.

Abstract

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) encompasses several debilitating chronic gastrointestinal (GI) inflammatory disorders, including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. In both conditions, mucosal inflammation is a key clinical presentation associated with altered serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine or 5-HT) signaling. This altered 5-HT signaling is also found across various animal models of colitis. Of the 14 known receptor subtypes, 5-HT receptor type 7 (5-HT7) is one of the most recently discovered. We previously reported that blocking 5-HT signaling with either a selective 5-HT7 receptor antagonist (SB-269970) or genetic ablation alleviated intestinal inflammation in murine experimental models of colitis. Here, we developed novel antagonists, namely, MC-170073 and MC-230078, which target 5-HT7 receptors with high selectivity. We also investigated the in vivo efficacy of these antagonists in experimental colitis by using dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) and the transfer of CD4+CD45RBhigh T cells to induce intestinal inflammation. Inhibition of 5-HT7 receptor signaling with the antagonists, MC-170073 and MC-230078, ameliorated intestinal inflammation in both acute and chronic colitis models, which was accompanied by lower histopathological damage and diminished levels of proinflammatory cytokines compared with vehicle-treated controls. Together, the data reveal that the pharmacological inhibition of 5-HT7 receptors by these selective antagonists ameliorates the severity of colitis across various experimental models and may, in the future, serve as a potential treatment option for patients with IBD. In addition, these findings support that 5-HT7 is a viable therapeutic target for IBD.NEW & NOTEWORTHY This study demonstrates that the novel highly selective 5-HT7 receptor antagonists, MC-170073 and MC-230078, significantly alleviated the severity of colitis across models of experimental colitis. These findings suggest that inhibition of 5-HT7 receptor signaling by these new antagonists may serve as an alternative mode of treatment to diminish symptomology in those with inflammatory bowel disease.

Keywords: 5-HT; 5-HT7 receptor; 5-HT7 receptor antagonist; inflammatory bowel disease; serotonin.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Colitis* / drug therapy
  • Colitis* / immunology
  • Colitis* / pathology
  • Colon / drug effects
  • Colon / immunology
  • Colon / metabolism
  • Colon / pathology
  • Dextran Sulfate
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Intestinal Mucosa / drug effects
  • Intestinal Mucosa / immunology
  • Intestinal Mucosa / metabolism
  • Intestinal Mucosa / pathology
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Receptors, Serotonin* / drug effects
  • Receptors, Serotonin* / metabolism
  • Serotonin Antagonists* / pharmacology
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • Signal Transduction / drug effects

Substances

  • Receptors, Serotonin
  • serotonin 7 receptor
  • Serotonin Antagonists
  • Dextran Sulfate