Antidiabetic properties of the histamine H3 receptor protean agonist proxyfan.

Proxyfan is a histamine H3 receptor protean agonist that can produce a spectrum of pharmacological effects including agonist, inverse agonist, and antagonist. We have discovered that proxyfan (10 mg/kg orally) significantly improved glucose excursion after an ip glucose tolerance test in either lean or high-fat/cholesterol diet-induced obese mice. It also reduced plasma glucose levels comparable to that of metformin (300 mg/kg orally) in a nongenetic type 2 diabetes mouse model. The dose-dependent decrease in glucose excursion correlated with inhibition of ex vivo H3 receptor binding in the cerebral cortex. In addition, glucose levels were significantly reduced compared with vehicle-treated mice after intracerebroventricular administration of proxyfan, suggesting the involvement of central H3 receptors. Proxyfan-induced reduction of glucose excursion was not observed in the H3 receptor knockout mice, suggesting that proxyfan mediates this effect through H3 receptors. Proxyfan reduced glucose excursion by significantly increasing plasma insulin levels in a glucose-independent manner. However, no difference in insulin sensitivity was observed in proxyfan-treated mice. The H1 receptor antagonist chlorpheniramine and the H2 receptor antagonist zolantidine had modest effects on glucose excursion, and neither inhibited the glucose excursion reduced by proxyfan. The H3 receptor antagonist/inverse agonist, thioperamide, had weaker effects on glucose excursion compared with proxyfan, whereas the H3 receptor agonist imetit did not affect glucose excursion. In conclusion, these findings demonstrate, for the first time, that manipulation of central histamine H3 receptor by proxyfan can significantly improve glucose excursion by increasing plasma insulin levels via a glucose-independent mechanism.