pyrazinoylguanidines having the formula ## str3 ## wherein said r is halogen ; and r 1 is hydrogen , c 1 - c 4 alkyl , benzyl or substituted benzyl are suitable for use in the invention . r is preferably chlorine , iodine or bromine . benzyl substituents can be any substituents that do not detract from the calcium blocking activity of the compound such as alkoxy , alkyl , and halogen . a preferred benzyl substituent is 3 , 4 - dimethoxy . c 1 - c 4 alkyl can be any group that does not detract from the calcium blocking activity of the compound . bulky groups are believed to contribute to the calcium blocking properties of the compounds and are thus to be preferred for use in the invention . substitution of hydrogen for the amino group at position 5 on the ring of amiloride causes loss of activity . substitution of hydrogen at position 6 on the ring of amiloride causes a great decrease in activity . preferred substituted pyrazinoylguanidines include amiloride wherein r is chlorine and r 1 is hydrogen ; benzamil wherein r is chlorine and r 1 is benzyl ; 3 , 4 - dimethoxybenzamil wherein r is chlorine and r 1 is 3 , 4 - dimethoxybenzyl ; 6 - bromoamiloride wherein r is bromine and r 1 is hydrogen ; and 6 - iodoamiloride wherein r is iodine and r 1 is hydrogen . the substituted pyrazinoylguanidines suitable for use in the invention can be synthesized generally in accordance with the methods of u . s . pat . no . 3 , 527 , 758 &# 34 ; process for the preparation of pyrazinoylguanidines from a pyrazinoic azide and a guanidine &# 34 ;, issued 9 / 8 / 1970 to cragoe et al ., which is specifically incorporated herein by reference and u . s . pat . no . 3 , 240 , 780 &# 34 ; amino - pyrazinoylguanidines &# 34 ;, issued 3 / 15 / 66 to cragoe et al ., which is specifically incorporated herein by reference and other methods known or readily apparent to those skilled in the art . 3 , 4 - dimethoxybenzamil can be synthesized according to the above u . s . pat . nos . 3 , 527 , 758 and 3 , 240 , 780 using the starting materials 3 , 4 - dimethoxybenzylamine and 2 - methyl - 2 - thiosendourea . these two compounds are reacted together to form an dimethoxybenzylguanidino intermediate . this intermediate compound is then reacted with methyl - 3 , 5 - diamino - 6 - chloropyrazine carboxylate to form 3 , 4 - dimethoxybenzamil . the compounds useful in the practice of this invention may be administered to mammals and neurons in dosages and dosage regimens sufficient to suppress hyperexcitability of the neurons . although clinical trials have not been carried out , it is believed that dosages ranging from approximately 0 . 1 to 10 milligrams per kilogram body weight per day ( mg / kg / day ) will be preferred . preferred dosages of amiloride are within the range of 1 to 5 mg / kg / day . preferred dosages of benzamil and dimethoxybenzamil are within the range of 0 . 1 and 0 . 5 mg / kg / day . the compounds suitable for use in the invention may be administered in any convenient manner , such as intravenously , orally , or parenterally . the compounds may be formulated for oral administration in the form of capsules , tablets or the like . amiloride is a pyrazine ring compound clinically used in humans as a diuretic . amiloride is a weak diuretic when administered alone and is presently used only in combination with hctz for its potassium sparing properties . the primary mechanism for its diuretic action is the blockade of a tetrodotoxin ( ttx ) insensitive sodium transport process in the kidney . ttx is a toxin that specifically blocks the voltage - sensitive sodium channel . there have been few reports of studies of amiloride and its derivatives relating to calcium channel blocking activity . pousti and khoyi ( arach . int . pharmacodyn . 242 : 222 - 229 , ( 1979 ) found that amiloride decreased the frequency of contractions of the spontaneously beating right atrium . yamashita et al ( j . of cardiovascular pharm . 3 : 704 - 7 , ( 1981 ) found that amiloride had a negative chronotropic action on the sa node . these latter two studies did not recognize any calcium channel blocking activity of amiloride but the results are consistent with calcium channel blockade . more recently , bielefels and hume ( circulation , vol . 74 , abstract # 686 , 1986 ) found one of the amiloride derivative , 3 , 4 - dichlorobenzamil inhibited calcium currents in frog atrial cells . garcia et al ( biophysical j . vol . 51 , p . 428a , 1987 ) found some derivatives of amiloride ( guanidino - nitrogen and 5 amino - pyrazine nitrogen derivatives ) inhibited calcium channel blocker binding to receptors of cardiac sarcolemmal membrane vesicles . these latter two studies recognized that some of the amiloride derivatives may have calcium channel blocking ability , but did not recognize the selective action on the t type calcium channel . no previous investigators have shown amiloride or its derivatives to possess a calcium channel blocking action selective for the t type channel . nor have previous investigators shown that this group of compounds to have action on the calcium channels of neurons . effect of amiloride and amiloride derivatives on neuroblastoma cells and chick dorsal root ganglion neurons experiments were performed on cultured neuroblastoma cells and chick dorsal root ganglion cells . neuroblastoma cells from the cell line , n1e - 115 were used . these cells were derived from cell lines of neurons from mouse adrenal glands . ( amano et al ., &# 34 ; neurotransmitter synthesis by neuroblastoma clones .&# 34 ; proc . nat . acad . sci . u . s . a . 69 : 258 - 263 , 1972 ). these neuroblastoma cells exhibited properties characteristics of differentiated neurons , such as neurotransmitter synthesis , axon formation , and possess the typical voltages activated sodium potassium and calcium channels . the cells were grown in petri dishes in dmem ( dulbecco &# 39 ; s minimum essential medium , sigma chemical co .) with 10 percent fetal bovine serum and 10 percent carbon dioxide . dorsal root ganglion neurons were prepared from the dorsal root ganglion of 10 day - old chick embryos ( gallus domesticus ) and were cultured for 1 to 2 days prior to use in experiments following the procedure of barde et al . &# 34 ; sensory neurons in culture &# 34 ; pnas u . s . a . 77 : 1199 - 1203 . the patch clamp technique described by hamill et al was used in these studies . (&# 34 ; improved patch - clamp techniques for high - resolution current recording from cells and cell - free membrane patches ,&# 34 ; pfluger arch ., 391 : 85 - 100 , 1981 .) this technique makes possible the precise measurement of current generate by ion flux through ion channels of small cells in response to a step change in membrane potential ( voltage clamp ). this technique also permits the precise measurement of the membrane potential while controlling the current stimulus ( current clamp ). although described fully in the reference by hamill et al , the basic procedure involves placing a fine glass pipette with a tip opening approximately 1 - 2 microns against the membrane of the cell to be studied . a gentle negative pressure is then applied to the fluid filled pipette opening . next , a stronger negative pressure is applied to the inside of the pipette so that the cell membrane within the pipette opening ruptures . thus , the inside of the cell becomes continuous with the inside of the pipette . the inside of the pipette is connected by a fine silver wire to a &# 34 ; patch clamp &# 34 ; amplifier that not only measures the small electric current generated by the cell , but also precisely controls the cell &# 39 ; s membrane potential . the patch clamp technique thus makes possible the ability to control the important chemical an electrical parameter of the cell and measure the electric behavior of small individual cells . in experiments where the measured currents is to reflect only current flowing through calcium channels , tetrodotoxin ( ttx ) was added to block the sodium channel . potassium was completely replaced by cesium ( cs ) and tetraethylammonium ( tea ) to eliminate current through potassium channels . in these latter experiments the internal pipette solution consisted of 80 mm cscl , 20 mm nacl , 20 mm teacl ( tetraethylammonium chloride ), 20 mm hepes buffer ( sigma chemical co . ), 10 mm egta ( ethyleneglycoltetraacetic acid , sigma chemical co . ), 2 mm mgatp ( adenosine triphosphate ), 0 . 2 mm camp ( cyclic adenosine monophosphate ) and was titrated to ph 7 . 3 . in general , the external solution consisted of 140 mm nacl , 5 mm cacl 2 2 um ttx , and 10 mm hepes buffered to ph 7 . 3 . in current clamp experiments , the sodium and potassium currents were not eliminated . in these experiments ttx was not added to the external solution and cesium and tea were replaced by potassium . the test compositions were added to the external solution . selective suppression of the t type calcium channel in neuroblastoma cells by amiloride two types of calcium channel currents can be measured in the neuroblastoma cell under voltage clamp conditions and under conditions where other channel currents are minimized . in fig1 a the calcium current through the t type calcium channel can be best seen upon depolarization to - 20 mv ( top trace ). the current through the l type calcium channel can be best seen ( second row of traces ) upon depolarization to + 20 mv . the membrane potential of the cell was held at - 90 mv at rest . at that potential there is no measurable calcium current ( dotted line being zero current ). upon rapid change of the membrane potential via the patch clamp amplifier to - 20 mv a transient inward ( downward deflection ) current is activated followed by inactivation ( return to baseline ). this t type calcium channel current is characterized by its activation with weak depolarization and by its transient nature . amiloride suppresses this t type channel current . on the other hand the l type is characterized by its activation with stronger depolarization and by its slow inactivation . amiloride does not appreciably suppress this l type channel current . fig1 b , 1c , and 1d plot the total current , the transient current , and the slow inactivating current as a function of membrane potential . fig1 c again illustrates that amiloride ( open circles ) suppresses the transient current relative to control ( filled circles ). fig1 d illustrates that amiloride does not suppress the slow inactivating current . selective suppression of the t type calcium channel in doral root ganglion ( drg ) neurons fig2 illustrates voltage clamp experiments on drg neurons . fig2 a shows that drg neurons have both the t type calcium channel current ( upper set of traces ) and the l type current ( lower set of traces ). amiloride completely suppressed the t type calcium channel current ( fig2 b ). addition of a substituted benzyl moiety to a guanidino nitrogen greatly increases the potency of t type calcium channel suppression . fig3 shows that 1 um of benzamil reversably suppresses the bulk of the t type calcium channel current without suppressing the l type current . dimethoxybenzamil similarly suppresses the t type current at this concentration . the addition of a benzyl moiety to the guanidine portion of the amiloride molecule increases the t channel activity by about fifty fold . fig4 and 5 show results of experiments conducted under current clamp conditions . in these experiments , the membrane potential was measured instead of the membrane current . in fig4 ( left traces ) current pulses of 30 picoamps caused subthreshold membrane depolarization . on the right panel of fig4 current pulses of 40 picoamps led to a regenerative depolarization spike similar to that of an action potential ( trace a ). addition of 1 um of ttx abolished the sodium component leaving only the contribution by calcium channel ( traces b ). addition of 5 um of benzamil , which selectively suppresses the current contributed by the t type calcium channel , further decreased the regenerative depolarization . thus , we show that the t type calcium channel makes a significant contribution to neuronal excitability because it decreases the tendency for the cell to depolarize . further evidence that the t type calcium channel contributes to neuronal excitability is illustrated by fig5 . in fig5 a current pulse is applied sufficient to bring the membrane potential to threshold ( left most traces ), to slightly about threshold ( middle traces ), and to well above threshold ( right traces ). at each degree of current stimulus the potential was recorded before , during , and after application of 250 um of amiloride . it can be seen that selective suppression of the t calcium channel suppress neuronal excitability at membrane potential near the threshold for regenerative depolarization ( the left and middle traces ) but does not block the depolarization at higher degree of stimulation . thus , suppression of the t type calcium channel by amiloride and its derivatives raises the threshold for neuronal excitation .
the invention provides methods of treating diseases characterized by hyperexcitability of neurons . an amount of a substituted pyrazinoylguanidine compound effective to regulate excitability of the neurons is administered . substituted pyrazinoylguanidines having the formula ## str1 ## wherein r is halogen and r 1 is a member of the group consisting of hydrogen , benzyl and optionally substituted benzyl are useful in the invention . the invention also discloses a method of treating neurons having hyperexcitable cell membranes .