The synthesis of puerarin derivatives and their protective effect on the myocardial ischemia and reperfusion injury.

Puerarin is a naturally occurring isoflavone and is frequently used for the treatment of cardiovascular symptoms in China. By the structural modification of the puerarin molecule at different positions, seven new puerarin derivatives were obtained, and their cardioprotective activities (in vitro and in vivo) were respectively evaluated. The finding that the activities of 3 and 8 markedly exceeded puerarin suggested that the acylated modification of phenolic hydroxyl at C-7 in the puerarin molecule may improve the cardioprotective activity, which will be an important reference for further structural optimization.

Formation of 4'-carboxyl acid metabolite of imrecoxib by rat liver microsomes.

AIM: Imrecoxib is a novel and moderately selective COX-2 inhibitor. The aim of the present in vitro investigation was to study the formation of the major metabolite 4'-carboxylic acid imrecoxib (M2) and identify the enzyme(s) involved in the reaction. METHODS: The formation of M2 was studied in rat liver cytosol in the absence or presence of liver microsome. The formed metabolite was identified and quantified by LC/MS(n). In addition, to characterize the cytochrome P450 (CYP) isozymes involved in M2 formation, the effects of typical CYP inhibitors (such as ketoconazle, quinine, alpha-naphthoflavone, methylpyrazole, and cimetidine) on the formation rate of M2 were investigated. RESULTS: The formation of M2 from 4-hydroxymethyl imrecoxib (M4) was completely dependent on rat liver microsomes and NADPH. Enzyme kinetic studies demonstrated that the formation rate of M2 conformed to monophasic Michaelis-Menten kinetics. Additional experiments showed that the formation of M2 was induced significantly by dexamethasone and lowered by ketoconazole strongly and concentration-dependently. By comparison, other CYP inhibitors, such as alpha-naphthoflavone, cimetidine, quinine, and methylpyrazole had no inhibitory effects on this metabolic pathway. CONCLUSION: These biotransformation studies of imrecoxib in rat liver at the subcellular level showed that the formation of M2 occurs in rat liver microsomes and is NADPH-dependent. The reaction was mainly catalyzed by CYP 3A in untreated rats and in dexamethasone-induced rats. Other CYP, such as CYP 1A, 2C, 2D, and 2E, seem unlikely to participate in this metabolic pathway.

Role of rat liver cytochrome P450 3A and 2D in metabolism of imrecoxib.

AIM: To investigate the in vitro metabolism of imrecoxib in rat liver microsomes and to identify the cytochrome P450 (CYP) forms involved in its metabolism. METHODS: Liver microsomes of Wistar rats were prepared using an ultracentrifuge. The in vitro metabolism of imrecoxib was studied by incubation with rat liver microsomes. To characterize the CYP forms involved in the 4 '-methyl hydroxylation of imrecoxib, the effects of typical CYP inducers (such as dexamethasone, isoniazid and beta-naphthoflavone) and of CYP inhibitors (such as ketoconazole, quinine, alpha-naphthoflavone, methylpyrazole, and cimetidine) on the formation rate of 4 '-hydroxymethyl imrecoxib were investigated. RESULTS: Imrecoxib was metabolized to 3 metabolites by rat liver microsomes: 4'-hydroxymethyl imrecoxib (M4), 4'-hydroxymethyl-5-hydoxyl imrecoxib (M3), and 4 '-hydroxymethyl-5-carbonyl imrecoxib (M5). Over the imrecoxib concentration range studied (5-600 micromol/L), the rate of 4'-methyl hydroxylation conformed to monophasic Michaelis-Menten kinetics. Dexamethasone significantly induced the formation of M4. Ketoconazole markedly lowered the metabolic rate of imrecoxib in a concentration-dependent manner. Moreover, a significant inhibitory effect of quinine on the formation of M4 was observed in microsomes obtained from control rats, isoniazid-induced rats, and b-naphthoflavone-induced rats. In contrast, a-naphthoflavone, cimetidine, and methylpyrazole had no inhibitory effects on this metabolic pathway. CONCLUSION: Imrecoxib is metabolized via 4'-methyl hydroxylation in rat liver microsomes. The reaction is mainly catalyzed by CYP 3A. CYP 2D also played a role in control rats, in isoniazid-induced rats and in beta-naphthoflavone-induced rats.

[Using distance comparison method to build pharmacophore model of epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors].

OBJECTIVE: To build 3D-pharmacophore model of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors using distance comparisons method and design novel EGFR inhibitors. METHODS: Thirteen typical EGFR inhibitors were selected, and their biologically active conformations were obtained by using DOCK5.0 program, then 3D-pharmacophore model of EGFR inhibitors was built using distance comparisons method. RESULTS: Validation of the 3D-pharmacophore model was carried out and novel structures with potential inhibitory activity were selected by means of 3D-searching and docking method. CONCLUSION: This method can improve hit rate of lead compounds discovery and can be used to design novel EGFR inhibitors.

Microdialysis combined with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry for the determination of 6-aminobutylphthalide and its main metabolite in the brains of awake freely-moving rats.

6-Aminobutylphthalide (ABP) is a new drug candidate which is currently being developed for the treatment of cerebral ischemia. The pharmacokinetics and metabolism of ABP were studied using in situ microdialysis sampling in the brains of awake freely-moving rats. Two LC-MS/MS methods were used for the quantitative and qualitative analysis of microdialysate. For comparison and confirmation, brain tissue samples were also analyzed by LC-MS/MS and GC/MS. The results described provide more authentic information in pharmacokinetics and metabolism at the site of action by using the coupling of microdialysis to LC-MS/MS technique than the traditional sampling methods.

Study on molecular mechanism and 3D-QSAR of influenza neuraminidase inhibitors.

Neuraminidase (NA) is a critical enzyme of the influenza virus and many inhibitors targeting to this enzyme are quite efficient and encouraging as anti-influenza agents. In this paper the binding model of five series of inhibitors to NA was examined using molecular simulation method. The resulted conformation and orientation of the compounds were directly put into CoMSIA study. The most significant amino acid residues at binding sites and the requirement for features of substituents were applied to direct design of new inhibitors. The robust QSAR model and its three-dimensional contour map provided guidelines to building novel compounds with new scaffold and for structural optimization of current molecules.

7-imidazolylalkanamido-1-carboxylalkylbenzo-diazepine, a novel series of farnesyltransferase inhibitors.

AIM: Design, synthesis and evaluation of a series of 7-imidazolylalkanamido-1-carboxylalkylbenzodiazepine farnesyltransferase (FTase) inhibitors. METHODS AND RESULTS: Coupling of imidazolylalkylcarboxylic acids and 1-substituted 7-aminobenzodiazepines (5a-5c) yielded 10 new compounds (6-12, 16-18) which were biologically tested against FTase using scintillation proximity assay method. CONCLUSION: Five target compounds were found to be potential farnesyltransferase inhibitors.