the invention arose out of research directed toward the evaluation of a group of polyamine analogues as agents to ameliorate diarrhea - predominant irritable bowel syndrome . each compound was assessed when administered subcutaneously ( sc ) in a psychological stress - induced model of irritable bowel syndrome in rodents for its ability to reduce stool output in a dose - dependent manner . the spermine pharmacophore was found to be an excellent platform from which to construct compounds to treat irritable bowel syndrome . the activity of the compounds is critically dependent on both the nature of the terminal substituent groups and the geometry of the groups separating the nitrogens of the polyamines . in addition to the sc studies , several compounds , n 1 , n 11 - diethylnorspermine , n 1 , n 12 diethylspermine , n 1 , n 12 diisopropylspermine , n 1 , n 14 - diethylhomospermine , n , n ′- bis [ 5 -( ethylamino ) pentyl ]- 4 - butanediamine , n , n ′- bis [ 2 -( 4 - piperidinyl ) ethyl ]- 1 , 4 - diaminobutane , and n , n ′- bis [ 3 -( ethylamino ) propyl ]- trans - 1 , 4 - cyclohexanediamine , were subsequently evaluated for oral efficacy . the remarkable activity of n , n ′- bis [ 3 ( ethylamino ) propyl ]- trans - 1 , 4 - cyclohexanediamine led to further exploration of this framework as a pharmacophore for the construction of other analogues to relieve the symptoms of diarrhea - predominant ibs . as noted above , irritable bowel syndrome ( ibs ) is a chronic disorder that occurs in 15 - 20 percent of the us population and accounts for up to 50 % of outpatient referrals to gastroenterologists ( slepoy v d , stella m , pezzotto s m , kraier l , burde l , wohlwend k , razzari e , polento l : irritable bowel syndrome clinical and psychopathological correlations . dig dis sci 44 : 1008 - 1012 , 1999 ). it is characterized by altered bowel function , i . e ., constipation , diarrhea , or alternating constipation and diarrhea , with or without abdominal pain ( schmnulson m w , chang l : diagnostic approach to the patient with irritable bowel syndrome . am j med 107 : 20s - 26s , 1999 ). although the pathogenesis remains controversial , this malady is considered primarily a psychosocial or psychiatric disorder by some ( gaynes b n , drossman d a : the role of psychosocial factors in irritable bowel syndrome . baillieres best prac res clin gastroenterol 13 : 437 - 452 , 1999 ; jones j , boorman j , cann p , forbes a , gomborone j , heaton k , hungin p , kumar d , libby g , spiller r , read n , silk d , whorwell p : british society of gastroenterology guidelines for the management of the irritable bowel syndrome . gut 47 : ii 1 - ii 19 , 2000 ), others have suggested immunological and inflammatory mechanisms ( collins s m , vallance b , barbara g , borgaonkar m : putative inflammatory and immunological mechanisms in functional bowel disorders . baillieres best prac res clin gastroenterol 13 : 429 - 436 , 1999 ) or abnormalities of intestinal motility and / or enhanced visceral sensitivity ( gaynes , supra ; farthing m j : irritable bowel syndrome : new pharmaceutical approaches to treatment . baillieres best prac res clin gastroenterol 13 : 461 - 471 , 1999 ). thus , it is possible that ibs may be managed by chemotherapeutic means , including using agents that modify intestinal motility ( gaynes , supra ). tansy and co - workers , in a series of well - conceived studies , first demonstrated the striking impact of polyamines on the motility of the gastrointestinal ( gi ) tract ( tansy m f , martin j s , landin w e , kendall f m , melamed s : spermine and spermidine as inhibitors of gastrointestinal motor activity . surg gyn obst 154 : 74 - 80 , 1982 ). the original work focused on poly ( ethyleneimine ) and gastric emptying . branched - chain poly ( ethyleneimine ) s effected significant inhibition of gastric emptying in rodents ( melamed s , carlson g r , moss j n , belair e j , tansy m r gi pharmacology of polyethyleneimine i : effects on gastric emptying in rats . j pharm sci 66 : 899 - 901 , 1977 ); however , their therapeutic potential was compromised by the observation that the same compounds elicited a severe retch response in dogs ( tansy m f , martin j s , innes d l , kendall f m , melamed s , moss j n : gi phannacology of polyethyleneimine ii : motor activity in anesthetized dogs . j pharm sci 66 : 902 - 904 , 1977 ). nevertheless , because of the structural relationship between the poly ( ethyleneimine ) s and natural polyamines , the study moved forward ; the effects of spermidine , spermine , and a group of polyamine analogues on the gastric emptying of rodents were also investigated ( belair e j , carlson g r , melamed s , moss j n , tansy m r effects of spermine and spennidine on gastric emptying in rats . j pharm sci 70 : 347 , 1981 ). it soon became apparent that polyamines had a considerable influence on gastric emptying and that “ endogenous spermine and spermidine may have some unrecognized gi secretornotor activity ” ( belair et al , supra ). it also became obvious , from a structure - activity perspective , that minor alterations in the polyamine &# 39 ; s structure could completely abolish the molecule &# 39 ; s ability to inhibit gastric emptying . thus , these studies strongly suggested that the polyamine pharmacophore was an excellent candidate for the construction of antitransit , antidiarrheal drugs . for example , although n 1 , n 11 - diethylnorspermine [ denspm ; de ( 3 , 3 , 3 )], was ineffective in a rodent castor oil - induced diarrhea model ( bergeron r j , yao g w , yao h , weimar w r , sninsky c a , raisler b , feng y , wu q , gao f : metabolically programmed polyamine analogue antidiarrheals . j med chem 39 : 2461 - 2471 , 1996 ), the polyamine analogue predicated on a different backbone only three methylene units longer , n 1 , n 14 - diethylhomospermine [ dehspm ; de ( 4 , 4 , 4 )], is a very potent antidiarrheal as demonstrated in a number of animal models and in the clinic against aids - related diarrhea ( sato t l , sninsky c a , bergeron r j , structural specificity of synthetic analogues of polyamines and their effect on gastrointestinal motility . in polyamines and the gastrointestinal tract , falk symposium , no 62 . r h dowling , u r folsch , c loser ( eds ). boston , kluwer academic , 1991 ; sninsky c a , bergeron r : potent anti - diarrheal activity of a new class of compounds : synthetic analogs of the polyamine pathway . gastroenterology 104 : a54 , 1993 ). unfortunately , the n - de - ethylated metabolite of dehspm , homospermine ( hspm ), has a very protracted half - life , 2 - 3 weeks in mice and even longer in the dog ( bergeron r j , weimar w r , luchetta g , sninsky c a , wiegand j : metabolism and pharmacokinetics of n 1 , n 14 - diethylhomospennine . drug metab dispos 24 : 334 - 343 , 1996 ). each subsequent dose of dehspm results in a further accumulation of hspm until toxic levels of the metabolite are reached . furthermore , sc administration of dehspm to three dogs at a daily dose of 2 mg / kg for 11 - 17 days resulted in ventricular bigeminies . the arrhythmia was apparent in a 6 - lead ekg as early as three days into the dosing period ( bergeron r j , wiegand j , weimar w r , snyder p s , porter c w , braylan r c : chemical resection of the exocrine pancreas . pancreas :, 2001 - submitted ). it was then attempted to circumvent the accumulation of hspm by assembling a dihydroxylated dehspm derivative , ( 3r , 12r )- n 1 , n 14 - diethyl - 3 , 12 - dihydroxyhomospermine [( r , r )—( ho ) 2 dehspm ]. the presence of the hydroxyl groups would , theoretically , yield a more metabolically labile compound . indeed , this was found —( ho ) 2 dehspm was as effective an antidiarrheal as dehspm , yet its residence time in most mouse tissues was shorter than that of dehspm . in addition , the induction of cardiac bigeminies observed in ( ho ) 2 dehspm - treated dogs was minimal . unfortunately , when dogs were given ( ho ) 2 dehspm at a dose of 4 . 3 mg / kg / day for 14 days or 2 . 15 mg / kg / d for 28 days , exocrine pancreatic insufficiency developed approximately 40 days post - final dose and became severe within an additional 14 days ; histological analysis revealed that the acinar - derived exocrine pancreas was severely atrophied . although the hydroxylated dehspm derivative considerably decreased stool output in a castor oil - induced diarrhea model in rats with little build - up of either drug or metabolite in most tissues of mice and dogs , its long - term toxicity profile is unacceptable ; the problem of designing a metabolically labile polyamine analogue still remains . thus , denspm , dehspm and ( ho ) 2 dehspm possess drawbacks as antidiarrheal agents . the former was more metabolically labile by virtue of its aminopropyl components , but was ineffective in reducing stooling ; the latter two , although effective , were metabolically inert after de - ethylation to hspm ( dehspm ) or caused exocrine pancreatic insufficiency [( ho ) 2 dehspm ]. in the retrograde processing of both spermidine ( spd ) and spermine ( spm ), the aminopropyl ends of these systems are first acetylated by spermidine / spermine - n 1 - acetyltransferase ( ssat ); the nearest internal carbon - nitrogen bond is oxidized to an imine ; and the imine is hydrolyzed to 3 - acetamidopropanal and the corresponding amine . spermine is thereby converted to spd and a mole of 3 - acetamidopropanal , and spd yields putrescine and 3 - acetamidopropanal . since denspm contains aininopropyl moieties , it is processed by this mechanism to yield 3 - acetamidopropanal , n - ethylnorspermine , n - ethylnorspermidine , n - ethyl - 1 , 3 - diaininopropane , norspermidine , and diaminopropane ( bergeron r j , weimar w r , luchetta g , streiff r r , wiegand j , perrin j , schreier k m , porter c , yao g w , dimova h : metabolism and pharmacokinetics of n 1 , n 11 - diethylnorspermine . drug metab dispos 23 : 1117 - 1125 , 1995 ). therefore , if dialkylated spms ameliorated diarrhea and were subsequently dealkylated , the issue of metabolite ( i . e ., spm ) build - up would not be problematic as with hspm . the catabolic processing should be similar to what was observed with denspm . however , in this instance , three natural products - spm , spd , and putrescine - are generated . thus , we investigated a series of spm [( 3 , 4 , 3 )] analogues in a castor oil - induced diarrhea model ( bergeron r j , wiegand j , mcmanis j s , weimar w r , smith r e , algee s e , fannin t l , slusher m a , snyder p s : polyamine analogue antidiarrheals : a structure - activity study . j med chem 44 : 232 - 244 , 2001 ). we found that the spm backbone was an excellent framework from which to construct active antidiarrheals with acceptable toxicity profiles . the current work describes an assessment of a series of polyamine analogues for their ability to reduce psychological stress - induced fecal output in a rodent model of ibs and strongly suggests that the polyamine pharmacophore is a useful platform from which to construct therapeutics suitable for treatment of diarrhea - predominant ibs . all of the polyamines and chemical compounds described herein are known in the prior art . the polyamines are described as well as methods for their preparation are described in u . s . pat . nos . 6 , 297 , 287 ; 6 , 274 , 630 ; 6 , 262 , 125 ; 6 , 235 , 794 ; 6 , 184 , 232 ; 6 , 147 , 262 ; 6 , 034 , 139 ; 5 , 962 , 533 ; 5 , 866 , 613 ; 5 , 827 , 894 ; 5 , 677 , 352 ; 5 , 510 , 390 ; 5 , 462 , 970 ; 5 , 455 , 277 ; 5 , 393 , 757 ; 5 , 342 , 945 ; and bergeron r j , mcmanis j s , liu c z , feng y , weimar w r , luchetta g r , wu q , ortiz - ocasio j , vinson j r t , kramer d , porter c : antiproliferative properties of polyamine analogues : a structure - activity study , j med chem 37 : 3464 - 3476 , 1994 ; bergeron r j , feng y , weimar w r , mcmanis j s , dimova h , porter c , raisler b , phanstiel o : a comparison of structure - activity relationships between spermidine and spermine analogue antineoplastics . j med chem 40 : 14751494 , 1997 ; bergeron r j , mcmanis j s , weimar w r , schreier k m , gao f , wu q , ortiz - ocasio j , luchetta g r , porter c , vinson j r t : the role of charge in polyamine analogue recognition . j med chem 38 : 2278 - 2285 , 1995 ; and bergeron et al , j . med chem . 44 : 232 - 244 ( 2001 ), the entire contents and disclosures of all and each of which are incorporated herein by reference . for the acute toxicity assessment the chx ( 3 , 4 , 3 )- trans was administered to female cd - 1 mice ( charles river , wilmington , mass .) as a single intraperitoneal ( ip ) injection . the animals were carefully observed post - dosing and were scored 2 h after administration of the drug . for drug preparation and administration , the compounds were put into solution with sterile normal saline and sonicated briefly , if necessary . the drugs were made up at concentrations such that the rats received the drugs po or sc at the rate of i cc per kilogram . mice received the chx ( 3 , 4 , 3 )- trans ip at 1 cc per 100 grams . the solutions were made fresh the day of the study . control animals received an equivalent amount of saline po or sc . ibs - like symptoms , e . g ., increased myoelectric activity and colonic contractility , have been induced in healthy human volunteers by subjecting them to various forms of physical or psychological stress [ almy t p , tulin m : alterations in colonic function in man under stress : experimental production of changes simulating the “ irritable colon ”. gastroenterology 8 : 616 - 626 , 1947 ; drossman d a , powell d w , sessions j t : the irritable bowel syndrome . gastroenterology 73 : 811 - 822 , 1977 ; narducci f , snape w j , battle w m , london r l , cohen s : increased colonic motility during exposure to a stressful situation . dig dis sci 30 : 40 - 44 , 1985 ; tache y , monnikes h , bonaz b , rivier j : role of crf in stress - related alterations and colonic motor function . ann n y acad sci 697 : 233 - 243 , 1993 ]. animal models of stress - associated motility disorders , e . g ., irritable bowel syndrome , have included such stressors as partial or complete body restraint at room temperature ( kishibayashi n , miwa y , hayashi h , ishi a , ichikawa s , nonaka h , yokoyama t , suzuki f : 5 - ht3 receptor antagonists . 3 . quinoline derivatives which may be effective in the therapy of irritable bowel syndrome . j med chem 36 : 3286 - 3292 , 1993 ; lenz h j , raedler a s , greten h , vale w w , rivier j e : stress - induced gastrointestinal secretory and motor responses in rats are mediated by endogenous corticotropin - releasing factor . gastroenterology 95 : 1510 - 1517 , 1988 ; williams c l , villar r g , peterson j m , burks t f : stress - induced changes in intestinal transit in the rat : a model for irritable bowel syndrome . gastroenterology 94 : 611 - 621 , 1988 ) or cold ( barone f c , deegan j f , price w j , fowler p j , fondacaro j d , onnsbee h s i : a model of stress - induced increased fecal output and colonic transit . gastroenterology 90 : a1337 , 1986 ; barone f c , deegan j f , price w j , fowler p j , fondacaro j d , ormsbee h s i : stress - induced diarrhea is not associated with abnormal gut secretion . gastroenterology 90 : a1337 , 1986 ; barone f c , deegan j f , price w j , fowler p j , fondacaro j d , onnsbee h s i : cold - restraint stress increases rat fecal pellet output and colonic transit . am j physiol 258 : g329 - g337 , 1990 ), a conditioned fear response caused by placing the rats into cages in which they had previously experienced inescapable footshocks ( gue m , junien j l , bueno l : conditioned emotional response in rats enhances colonic motility through the release of corticotropin - releasing factor . gastroenterology 100 : 964 - 970 , 1991 ), or by exposing the animals to psychological stress involving passive avoidance of an aversive stimulus , water ( bonaz b , tache y : water - avoidance stress - induced c - fos expression in the rat brain and stimulation of fecal output : role of corticotropin - releasing factor . brain res 641 : 21 - 28 , 1994 ; enck p , merlin v , erckenbrecht j f , weinbeck m : stress effects on gastrointestinal transit in the rat . gut 30 : 455 - 459 , 1989 ; mormikes h , schmidt bg , tache y : psychological stress - induced colonic transit in rats involves hypothalamic corticotropin - releasing factor . gastroenterology 104 : 716 - 723 , 1993 ; sninsky c a , broome t a , brooderson r j , bergeron r j : diethylhomospermine , a synthetic polyamine analog , prevents psychological stress - induced acceleration of colonic transit in rats . gastroenterology 106 : a569 , 1994 ). subjecting the rats to any of the above stressors results in an increase in colonic transit and fecal output similar to what was observed in the healthy human volunteers that were subjected to physical or psychological stress . of these animal models , we chose the latter , psychological stress , to be used for the screening of a series of our synthetic polyamine analogues for their ability to minimize the stress - associated increase in fecal output . animal care and experimental procedures were approved by the institutional animal care and use committee . male sprague - dawley rats ( 250 - 350 g , harlan sprague - dawley , indianapolis , ind .) were housed in polycarbonate cages in a temperature - and humidity - controlled room with a 12 - hour light / dark cycle . the experiments were performed at the same time of the day to decrease diurnal variability . a typical experiment involved 20 rats : 5 saline - treated controls and 5 pretreated with polyamine analogues at each of three doses as either a sc injection or a po gavage . the rats in the sc studies and in one set of experiments involving po administration were allowed ad libitum access to a standard rodent diet and tap water until the morning of the experiment . stress was initiated 30 minutes post drug as described below . in another set of experiments involving po administration , the animals were fasted overnight but were allowed free access to water . the animals were then stressed from ½ h to 2 h post - drug ( data not shown ). in a final experiment , non - stressed control rats were injected with saline sc and housed in individual polycarbonate cages . the fecal output ( number of pellets ) of the stressed and unstressed animals was recorded at 30 - min intervals for a 6 - h period , during which they received no food or water . once the drug had been administered , the animals were housed individually in polycarbonate cages containing a clear 70 × 50 mm pyrex crystallization dish ( fisher , pittsburgh , pa .) inverted in the center and held in place with vacuum grease . to initiate the stress , water was added to each cage to a depth of at least 4 . 5 cm , i . e ., within 0 . 5 cm of the top of the pyrex dish . to avoid contact with water , the rats stand on the glass dish for the 6 h of the study . stool output was expressed as the total number of fecal pellets excreted over the 6 - h collection period . percent reduction was calculated by dividing the mean value from the treated animals ( t ) by the mean value from the control animals ( c ), subtracting the resulting quotient from 1 . 0 , and multiplying by 100 [ i . e ., ( 1 . 0 − t / c )× 100 ]. a one - tailed t - test assuming unequal variance was performed on the stool output data of the treated vs control ( 0 mg / kg ) animals for each compound . a value of p & lt ; 0 . 05 was considered significant . this structure - activity study was designed to identify the best platform from which to construct therapeutic agents for controlling diarrhea in ibs patients and was predicated on earlier work with many of these analogues as antidiarrheals . the first polyamine analogue that was found to be effective against both diarrhea and ibs was dehspm . unfortunately , this compound displayed an unacceptable toxicity profile . thus , our intent was to identify those structural components of the analogues responsible for the anti - ibs properties and partition them from the toxic fragments . accordingly , dehspm was modified in three ways ( table 1 ): ( a ) changing the distance between the nitrogens and the overall length of the molecule [ e . g ., compounds 1 , 3 , and 14 versus dehspm ], ( b ) altering the terminal alkyl groups within a series of compounds possessing the same backbone [ e . g ., despm ( 3 ) and compounds 4 - 1 1 ], and ( c ) keeping the overall length of the molecule the same but manipulating the ordering of the distance between the nitrogens ( e . g ., 16 versus 13 ). the psychological stress - induced ibs model involves subjecting the rats to an aversive stimulus ( water ) and observing the increase in fecal output over a period of time . the compounds were generally administered sc at doses of 2 . 3 , 11 . 6 , 23 . 2 , and 57 . 8 : mol / kg , equivalent to 1 , 5 , 10 , or 25 mg / kg of dehspm . control rats received an equivalent amount of saline sc . the unstressed control rats ( n = 15 ) excreted 3 . 1 + 3 . 1 fecal pellets over the 6 - h collection period . the stool output ( number of pellets ) for the stressed control and treated animals are in table 1 . compounds predicated on a ( 3 , 3 , 3 ) backbone ( denspm , dipnspm ) were ineffective at diminishing stress - induced fecal output ( table 1 ). extending the backbone of the norspermine compounds by one methylene group in the center to yield the ( 3 , 4 , 3 ) spm systems substantially enhanced the anti - ibs activity of the compounds . furthermore , small alterations in the terminal alkyl groups of spm analogues could also have a profound effect on the drug &# 39 ; s anti - ibs properties ( table 1 ). because the ( 3 , 4 , 3 ) analogues demonstrated generally good activity , the comparison among them is best made at intermediate doses . in the ibs model at the 23 . 2 : mol / kg dose , despm ( 3 ) significantly reduced stress - elicited stooling by 35 % ( p & lt ; 0 . 001 ). at the same dose , the bis - n - propyl spermine analogue dpspm ( 4 ) diminished stooling by 74 % ( p & lt ; 0 . 001 ), returning the stool output of the stressed rats to within error of the unstressed controls ( p & gt ; 0 . 1 ). at one - half the dose ( 11 . 6 : mol / kg ) the bis - n - butyl compound dbspm ( 5 ) completely eliminated fecal output ( p & lt ; 0 . 001 ). branching the n - propyl groups of 4 to dipspm ( 6 ) yielded a compound that , at the 11 . 6 : mol / kg dose , substantially reduced stooling even more , from a 48 % reduction observed with 4 to a 90 % reduction with 6 ( p & lt ; 0 . 001 ). even at one - half this dose , 5 . 8 : mol / kg , stool output was reduced by 70 % relative to the stressed controls ( p & lt ; 0 . 001 ) and was within error of the stool output of the unstressed animals ( p & gt ; 0 . 1 ). however , at the 11 . 6 : mol / kg dose , the same branching change in 5 to dibspm ( 7 ) actually diminished activity at this dose , from a 100 % decrease in fecal output with 5 to a 34 % reduction with 7 . removal of one of the isobutyl groups of 7 to generate mibspm ( 8 ) had little , if any , effect on activity . adding a methylene to each of the terminal substituents of 7 to generate the corresponding pentyl analogue dipespm ( 9 ) had a minimal effect on activity at lower doses . finally , the introduction of aromatic benzyl groups as in dbzspm ( 10 ) or as in dtfmphespm ( 11 ) only served to diminish the activity relative to despm and dpspm , respectively . however , the most remarkable of all of the ( 3 , 4 , 3 ) systems was chx ( 3 , 4 , 3 )- trans ( 12 ); a 100 % reduction in fecal output was observed at a dose of 0 . 58 : mol / kg ( p & lt ; 0 . 001 ), and a dose of 0 . 145 : mol / kg reduced stool output by 80 % ( p & lt ; 0 . 001 ), to a level within error of the unstressed controls ( p & gt ; 0 . 1 ). in addition , a 50 % diminution in fecal output was observed at a dose of 0 . 07 : mol / kg ( p & lt ; 005 ). when allometrically scaled , the dose of 0 . 07 : mol / kg in the rat translates into a dose of only 0 . 3 mg for a 60 - kg patient . on expanding the methylene backbones from ( 3 , 3 , 3 ) systems ( e . g ., denspm ) to ( 3 , 4 , 3 ) ( e . g ., despm ) to ( 4 , 4 , 4 ) moieties ( dehspm ), there was an improvement in their anti - ibs activity ( table 1 ). however , further expansion of the backbone to a ( 5 , 4 , 5 ) base [ de ( 5 , 4 , 5 ), 14 ; pip ( 5 , 4 , 5 ), 15 ] did not result in any enhancement of activity . finally , to assess the importance of overall length of the molecules relative to how the methylene backbones are disposed , two unsymmetrical analogues [ de ( 3 , 3 , 6 ), 16 ; dip ( 3 , 3 , 6 ), 17 ] were synthesized and evaluated . interestingly , de ( 3 , 3 , 6 ) has the same overall length as dehspm , but the former was less active . in keeping with the results from dipspm versus despm , dip ( 3 , 3 , 6 ) was more active than was its diethyl counterpart ( table 1 ). because an orally active compound would be desirable for the treatment of ibs , selected analogues utilizing oral administration in the same model were assessed . in the initial studies animals were utilized that had been fasted overnight . rodents were then given the drug of interest po by gavage and stressed ½ h , 1 h , or 2 h post - drug . unfortunately , because of the low baseline stool output in fasted control rats , the reductions in fecal output observed upon drug administration cannot be reported with any confidence ( data not shown ). thereafter , only non - fasted animals were employed and were given the agents by gavage at doses of 11 . 6 , 23 . 2 , 57 . 8 , or 115 . 6 : mol / kg 30 minutes before initiating the stress . of all of the compounds evaluated [ denspm , despm , dipspm , chx ( 3 , 4 , 3 )- trans , dehspm , de ( 5 , 4 , 5 ), and pip ( 5 , 4 , 5 )], only chx ( 3 , 4 , 3 )- trans , dehspm , and de ( 5 , 4 , 5 ) showed any activity at all ( table 2 ). at doses of 11 . 6 and 23 . 2 : mol / kg , chx ( 3 , 4 , 3 )- trans reduced stooling by about 80 % ( p = 0 . 001 and & lt ; 0 . 001 , respectively ). dehspm was effective at a dose of 115 . 6 : mol / kg ( 40 % diminution of fecal output ; p & lt ; 0 . 01 ), and de ( 5 , 4 , 5 ) was active at doses of 23 . 2 and 57 . 8 : mol / kg ( 55 and 73 % reductions in fecal output , respectively ; p & lt ; 0 . 001 for both doses ). the acute toxicity of chx ( 3 , 4 , 3 )- trans ip in female cd - 1 mice is about 150 mg / kg , and there is a strong neurological component to the toxic effects not apparent in despm - or dehspm - treated mice , which usually display a generalized depression with respiratory failure . at toxic doses (∃ 125 mg / kg , single dose ), the chx ( 3 , 4 , 3 )- trans - treated mice , in addition to depression and respiratory failure , also displayed uncoordinated movements , intention tremors , and severe motor dysfunction , especially of the hind limbs . it is critical to point out that this dose , allometrically scaled , is at least 1000 times the dose of 0 . 0625 mg / kg needed to reduce fecal output of the stressed animals to that of the unstressed controls . however , signs of motor dysfunction , including seizures , have been observed in a rodent antidiarrheal model in rats treated with this drug at doses ∃ 1 mg / kg ( bergeron , r j et al ., polyamine analogue antidiarrheals : a structure — activity study . a med . chem ., vol . 44 , pages 232 - 244 ( 2001 ). the 1 mg / kg dose is , nevertheless , greater than 30 times the lowest dose ( 0 . 03125 mg / kg ) that reduced stool output by & gt ; 50 % relative to the stressed controls . thus , there is a large therapeutic window between a clinically effective dose in rats and a neurotoxic dose . signs of neurotoxicity similar to those described above in mice were observed in rats treated with dbspm , dibspm , and dipespm at subtherapeutic doses equivalent to a 5 mg / kg dose of dehspm ( bergeron , supra ). in the current study , the rats treated with dbspm at doses of 11 . 6 or 57 . 8 : mol / kg , or dipespm at a dose of 57 . 8 : mol / kg were removed from the experiment after only 2 h ( dbspm ) or 4 . 5 h ( dipespm ) due to severe neurotoxicity . in addition , all of the rats in the dbspm 57 . 8 : mol / kg group died within ˜ 24 h post - dosing . therefore , it seems that the longer , more lipophilic n - alkyl substituents result in increased neurotoxicity upon administration to animals . whereas the current guidelines for treating ibs primarily involve either managing psychological and psychosocial factors or altering a patient &# 39 ; s diet , some pharmacological interventions have been marginally successful in treating ibs . these include antidepressants , codeine , the antimotility agent loperamide , and the bile salt - binding resin cholestyramine . since some cases of ibs may be the result of abnormalities of intestinal motility and / or enhanced visceral sensitivity , it follows that those agents which alter intestinal motility would be beneficial to this subset of patients . accordingly , we have exploited our previous experience in the development of polyamine analogue antidiarrheal agents to find analogues suitable for the treatment of diarrhea - predominant ibs . the design concept was predicated on partitioning those structural components of the analogues responsible for the anti - ibs properties from those which are toxic . the alterations of the polyamine analogues fell into three categories : ( a ) changing the distance between the nitrogens and the overall length of the molecule , ( b ) keeping the overall length of the molecule the same but manipulating the ordering of the distance between the nitrogens , and ( c ) altering the terminal groups within a series of compounds possessing the same backbone . expansion of the methylene backbones from ( 3 , 3 , 3 ) systems ( e . g ., denspm ) that were completely ineffective upon sc administration to stressed rats , to ( 3 , 4 , 3 ) ( e . g ., despm ), to ( 4 , 4 , 4 ) moieties ( dehspm ) resulted in improved anti - ibs activity ; however , further expansion of the backbone to a ( 5 , 4 , 5 ) base did not result in any corresponding improvement of efficacy . the ordering and arrangement of the nitrogens within the methylene backbone seem to be critical to the compound &# 39 ; s effectiveness ; rearrangement of a ( 4 , 4 , 4 ) system to a ( 3 , 3 , 6 ) backbone of equal length actually reduced the activity in the rodent iibs model . the effects of manipulating the terminal alkyl groups on a particular backbone on the molecule &# 39 ; s efficacy can be examined for several systems : ( 3 , 3 , 3 ) ( denspm vs . dipspm ), ( 3 , 3 , 6 ) [ de ( 3 , 3 , 6 ) vs . dip ( 3 , 3 , 6 )], and ( 3 , 4 , 3 ), which was the most thoroughly studied backbone in the present work . changing the terminal diethyl groups of , e . g ., despm , to isopropyl , e . g ., dipspm , resulted in markedly improved efficacy . in fact , with the exception of the isobutyl - versus n - butyl spermines , the branched - chain analogues appeared to have increased activity when compared with their n - alkyl counterparts . this is in keeping with the observation that the branched - chain polyethyleneimines were highly active in inhibiting gastric emptying in rats , but the linear polyethyleneimine was not . however , the longer , more lipophilic n - alkyl substituents resulted in increased neurotoxicity when administered sc to the rats . in addition , the use of larger branched groups , e . g ., isopentyl , did not enhance the activity of the spermine backbone ; furthermore , the introduction of aromatic benzyl groups seemed to diminish the efficacy . however , in the end , the ( 3 , 4 , 3 ) analogue containing a cyclohexane ring in its center , chx ( 3 , 4 , 3 )- trans , is the most effective against stress - induced stooling , regardless of the mode of administration . this polyamine was also the most effective of the spm analogues tested in the castor oil - induced diarrhea model . although signs of motor dysfunction including seizures have been observed in a rodent antidiarrheal model in rats treated with this drug at doses ∃ 1 mg / kg , the 1 mg / kg dose is , nevertheless , greater than 30 times the lowest dose ( 0 . 03125 mg / kg ) that reduced stool output by & gt ; 50 % relative to the stressed controls providing an acceptable therapeutic window . [ 0067 ] table 2 activity of polyamine analogues when given orally to rats a dose , kg − 1 stool p - % compound mg μmol n output b value c reduction d chx ( 3 , 4 , 3 )- trans 0 0 5 10 . 0 ± 2 . 9 — — 1 2 . 3 5 9 . 0 ± 1 . 6 & gt ; 0 . 05 ns 5 11 . 6 5 2 . 2 ± 1 . 3 0 . 001 78 10 23 . 2 5 2 . 0 ± 1 . 9 & lt ; 0 . 001 80 dehspm 0 0 5 17 . 6 ± 3 . 9 — — 50 115 . 6 5 10 . 6 ± 1 . 8 & lt ; 0 . 01 40 de ( 5 , 4 , 5 ) 0 0 10 19 . 1 ± 3 . 3 — — 5 . 3 11 . 6 10 15 . 2 ± 8 . 5 & gt ; 0 . 05 ns 10 . 6 23 . 2 10 8 . 6 ± 4 . 9 & lt ; 0 . 001 55 26 . 6 57 . 8 10 5 . 1 ± 3 . 1 & lt ; 0 . 001 73 it is thus established , therefore , that the compounds described herein are useful for the treatment of irritable bowel disease ( ibd ) or syndrome ( ibs ). the method and composition of the present invention are predicated on administering to a subject ( human or animal ) suffering from irritable bowel disease an effective amount of one or more of the compounds described herein as being effective therefore . administration may be accomplished either therapeutically or prophylactically by means of pharmaceutical compositions which are prepared by techniques well known in the pharmaceutical sciences . while the compounds of the invention are preferably administered orally or intrarectally , they may also be administered by a variety of other routes such as transdermally , subcutaneously , intranasally , intramuscularly and intravenously . the present invention is also directed to pharmaceutical compositions which include at least one compound as described above in association with one or more pharmaceutically acceptable diluents , excipients or carriers therefor . in making the pharmaceutical compositions of the present invention , one or more compounds will usually be mixed with , diluted by or enclosed within a carrier which may be in the form of a capsule , sachet , paper or other container . when the carrier serves as a diluent , it may be a solid , semi - solid or liquid material which acts as a vehicle , excipient or medium for the active ingredient . thus , the compositions can be in the form of tablets , pills , powders , lozenges , sachets , cachets , elixirs , suspensions , emulsions , solutions , syrups , aerosols ( as a solid or in a liquid medium ), ointments containing , for example , up to 60 % by weight of active compound , soft and hard gelatin capsules , suppositories , sterile injectable solutions and sterile packaged powders . some examples of suitable carriers , excipients and diluents include lactose , dextrose , sucrose , sorbitol , mannitol , starches , gum acacia , calcium phosphate , alginates , tragacanth , gelatin , calcium silicate , microcrystalline cellulose , polyvinylpyrrolidone , cellulose , water , syrup , methyl cellulose , methyl - and propyl - hydroxybenzoates , talc , magnesium stearate and mineral oil . the formulations can additionally include lubricating agents , wetting agents , emulsifying and suspending agents , preserving agents , sweetening agents or flavoring agents . the compositions of the invention may be formulated so as to provide rapid , sustained or delayed release of the active ingredient after administration to the patient by employing procedures well known in the art . the dose of the compound is that amount effective to prevent occurrence of the symptoms of the disease or to treat some symptoms of the disease from which the patient suffers . by “ effective amount ,” “ therapeutic amount ” or “ effective dose ” is meant that amount sufficient to elicit the desired pharmacological or therapeutic effects , thus resulting in effective prevention or treatment of the disease . prevention of the disease is manifested by a prolonging or delaying of the onset of the symptoms of the disease . treatment of the disease is manifested by a decrease in the symptoms associated with the disease or an amelioration of the recurrence of the symptoms of the disease . the effective dose may vary , depending upon factors such as the condition of the patient , the severity of the symptoms of the disease and the manner in which the pharmaceutical composition is administered . the compositions are formulated , preferably in a unit dosage form , such that each dosage contains from about 0 . 006 to about 12 , 000 mg , more usually about 0 . 06 to about 6 , 000 mg , of the active ingredient . the term “ unit dosage form ” refers to physically discrete units suitable as unitary dosages for human subjects and other mammals , each unit containing a predetermined quantity of active material calculated to produce the desired therapeutic effect , in association with one or more of the above - described suitable pharmaceutical diluents , excipients or carriers . the compounds are effective over a wide dosage range in treating ibd . thus , as used herein , the term “ effective amount ” refers to a dosage range of from about 0 . 006 to about 500 mg / kg of body weight per day . in the treatment of adult humans , the range of about 0 . 06 to about 250 mg / kg , in single or divided doses , is preferred . however , it will be understood that the amount of compound actually administered will be determined by a physician in light of the relevant circumstances , including ( 1 ) the condition to be treated , ( 2 ) the choice of compound to be administered , ( 3 ) the chosen route of administration , ( 4 ) the age , weight and response of the individual patient , and ( 5 ) the severity of the patient &# 39 ; s symptoms . therefore , the above dosage ranges are not intended to limit the scope of the invention in any way . by “ active ingredient ” is meant a polyamine as described herein or a salt thereof with a pharmaceutically acceptable acid . by “ salt ” is meant an addition salt between the polyamine of the invention and a sufficient amount of pharmacologically appropriate acid , such as hydrochloric , sulfuric , phosphoric , acetic , butyric , citric , maleic , lactic , valeric , tartaric , gluconic , succinic and the like , made by conventional chemical means .
a method and composition for treating irritable bowel syndrome in a subject in need of such treatment , utilizing an amount of a polyamine having the formula : r — nh — a — nh — b h — c — nh 2 , 1 ) cf 3 — c 6 h 5 — a — nh — b — nh — c — nh — d — nh — e — c 6 h 5 — cf 3 , 2 ) r — nh — a — nh — c 6 h 6 — nh — b — nh — r and 3 ) pip — a nh — b — nh — c — pip , 4 ) wherein : r is alkyl , aryl , aralkyl , alkaryl , or cyclo - alkyl having up to about 10 carbon atoms , and any of the alkyl chains may optionally be interrupted by at least one etheric oxygen atom , pip is piperidine and a , b , c , d , and e may be the same or different and are integers from 1 - 10 effective to treat irritable bowel syndrome .