Sulfonamide-salicylaldehyde imines active against methicillin- and trimethoprim/sulfonamide-resistant Staphylococci.

Background: Increasing resistance has resulted in an urgent need for new antimicrobial drugs. A systematic me-too approach was chosen to modify clinically used sulfonamides to obtain their imines. Methods & results: Twenty-five compounds were synthesized and evaluated for their antibacterial activity. The most active compounds were also investigated against methicillin- and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (SMX)-resistant Gram-positive species. Staphylococci shared the highest susceptibility including resistant strains with minimum inhibitory concentrations from 3.91 µM (≥2.39 µg ml-1). Crucially, the compounds inhibit MRSA and trimethoprim/SMX-resistant Staphylococci without any cross-resistance. Modification of parent sulfonamides turned a bacteriostatic effect into a bactericidal effect. Toxicity for HepG2 and hemolytic properties were also determined. Conclusions: The presence of a dihalogenated salicylidene moiety is required for optimal activity. Based on toxicity, promising derivatives for further investigation were identified.

Preclinical Pharmacokinetics and Biodistribution of Anticancer Dinuclear Palladium(II)-Spermine Complex (Pd2Spm) in Mice.

Palladium-based compounds are regarded as potential analogs to platinum anticancer drugs with improved properties. The present study assessed the pharmacokinetics and biodistribution of a dinuclear palladium(II)-spermine chelate (Pd2Spm), which has previously been shown to possess promising in vitro activity against several therapy-resistant cancers. Using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry, the kinetic profiles of palladium/platinum in serum, serum ultrafiltrate and tissues (kidney, liver, brain, heart, lungs, ovaries, adipose tissue and mammary glands) were studied in healthy female Balb/c mice after a single intraperitoneal bolus injection of Pd2Spm (3 mg/kg bw) or cisplatin (3.5 mg/kg bw) between 0.5 and 48 h post-injection. Palladium in serum exhibited biphasic kinetics with a terminal half-life of 20.7 h, while the free palladium in serum ultrafiltrate showed a higher terminal half-life than platinum (35.5 versus 31.5 h). Palladium was distributed throughout most of the tissues except for the brain, with the highest values in the kidney, followed by the liver, lungs, ovaries, adipose tissue and mammary glands. The in vitro cellular accumulation was also evaluated in breast cancer cells, evidencing a passive diffusion as a mechanism of Pd2Spm's cellular entry. This study reports, for the first time, the favorable pharmacokinetics and biodistribution of Pd2Spm, which may become a promising pharmacological agent for cancer treatment.