One- and Two-Photon Phototherapeutic Effects of RuII Polypyridine Complexes in the Hypoxic Centre of Large Multicellular Tumor Spheroids and Tumor-Bearing Mice*.

During the last decades, photodynamic therapy (PDT), an approved medical technique, has received increasing attention to treat certain types of cancer. Despite recent improvements, the treatment of large tumors remains a major clinical challenge due to the low ability of the photosensitizer (PS) to penetrate a 3D cellular architecture and the low oxygen concentrations present in the tumor center. To mimic the conditions found in clinical tumors, exceptionally large 3D multicellular tumor spheroids (MCTSs) with a diameter of 800 µm were used in this work to test a series of new RuII polypyridine complexes as one-photon and two-photon PSs. These metal complexes were found to fully penetrate the 3D cellular architecture and to generate singlet oxygen in the hypoxic center upon light irradiation. While having no observed dark toxicity, the lead compound of this study showed an impressive phototoxicity upon clinically relevant one-photon (595 nm) or two-photon (800 nm) excitation with a full eradication of the hypoxic center of the MCTSs. Importantly, this efficacy was also demonstrated on mice bearing an adenocarcinomic human alveolar basal epithelial tumor.

Metal Compounds against Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Many first-line treatments for neglected tropical diseases identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) are limited by one or more of the following: the development of drug resistance, toxicity, and side effects, lack of selectivity, narrow therapeutic indices, route of administration, and bioavailability. As such, there is an urgent need to develop viable alternatives to overcome these limitations. The following review provides an overview of all existing metal complexes studied and evaluates the status of these complexes on the respective disease of choice.

Multidisciplinary Preclinical Investigations on Three Oxamniquine Analogues as New Drug Candidates for Schistosomiasis*.

Schistosomiasis is a disease of poverty affecting millions of people. Praziquantel (PZQ), with its strengths and weaknesses, is the only treatment available. We previously reported findings on three lead compounds derived from oxamniquine (OXA), an old antischistosomal drug: ferrocene-containing (Fc-CH2 -OXA), ruthenocene-containing (Rc-CH2 -OXA) and benzene-containing (Ph-CH2 -OXA) OXA derivatives. These derivatives showed excellent in vitro activity against both Schistosoma mansoni larvae and adult worms and S. haematobium adult worms, and were also active in vivo against adult S. mansoni. Encouraged by these promising results, we conducted additional in-depth preclinical studies and report in this investigation on metabolic stability studies, in vivo studies on S. haematobium and juvenile S. mansoni, computational simulations, and formulation development. Molecular dynamics simulations supported the in vitro results on the target protein. Though all three compounds were poorly stable within an acidic environment, they were only slightly cleared in the in vitro liver model. This is likely the reason why the promising in vitro activity did not translate into in vivo activity on S. haematobium. This limitation could not be overcome by the formulation of lipid nanocapsules as a way to improve the in vivo activity. Further studies should focus on increasing the compound's bioavailability, to reach an active concentration in the microenvironment of the parasite.

Organometallic compounds in drug discovery: Past, present and future.

In this review, we present an overview of some of the medicinally-relevant organometallic drugs that have been used in the past or that are currently in clinical trials as well as an example of compounds that are currently in the initial stage of drug development. Three main classes of organometallic complexes have been chosen for discussion: antimicrobial organoarsenicals, antimalarial and anticancer ferrocene-containing compounds and anticancer catalytic organometallic complexes. The purpose of this review is to provide readers with a focus on the significant progress that has been made for each of these respective fields of medicine.

Bismuth(III) α-hydroxy carboxylates: highly selective toxicity of glycolates towards Leishmania major.

Eight bismuth(III) complexes derived from the simple α-hydroxycarboxylic acids; gluconic (H6-glu), tartaric (H4-tar), mandelic (H2-man), malic (H3-mal) and glycolic (H2-gly) have been synthesised and characterised. The complexes are formed through direct treatment of the organic acids with Bi(NO3)3·5H2O ([Bi(H2-tar)(H3- tar)] 2, [Bi(mal)(NO3)(H2O)2] 6, [Bi(gly)(NO3)(H2O)] 8) or Bi(OtBu)3 ([Bi(H-tar)(H2O)2] 1, [Bi(man)(H-man) (H2O)] 4, [Bi2(H-mal)3] 5, [Bi(gly)(H-gly)] 7), or through metathesis of the sodium salts with Bi(NO3)3·5H2O ([Bi(H3-glu)]3). Reactions with both glucuronic and mucic acid proved to be unsuccessful. Small crystals of [Bi(gly)4(NO3)4(H2O)4]·5H2O 8 were obtained from aqueous solution and analysed by synchrotron X-ray diffraction. The data were relatively poor but composition and connectivity were established, confirming and supporting other analyses. Those complexes which displayed sufficient solubility; 2, 4, 7 and 8, were tested for their anti-Leishmanial activity against parasite promastigotes and amastigotes, and for toxicity against human fibroblast cells. All four complexes and their parent acids showed no toxicity towards either the promastigotes or fibroblast cells. However, the two glycolate complexes showed selective toxicity towards amastigotes with complex 8 providing for a low % viability of 1.8 ± 0.9 at 50.0 µM. Graphical Abstract Novel bismuth(III) complexes derived from α-hydroxycarboxylic acids have been synthesised, characterised and assessed for their anti-leishmanial activity. The glycolate complexes are selectively toxic against parasite amastigotes, with all complexes being nontoxic towards promastigotes and human fibroblast cells.

Synthesis, characterization and antiparasitic activity of organometallic derivatives of the anthelmintic drug albendazole.

Helminthiases, a group of neglected tropical diseases, affect more than one billion people mainly in tropical and subtropical regions. Moreover, major intestinal protozoa have a significant impact on global public health. Albendazole (ABZ) is a broad-spectrum anthelmintic recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO). However, drug resistance is emerging due to its widespread use. In order to tackle this problem, taking into account the spectacular results obtained with ferroquine, an organometallic derivatization of the antimalarial drug chloroquine, we have prepared, in this study, a series of new ferrocenyl and ruthenocenyl derivatives of the organic drug ABZ and assessed their activity against different helminths and protozoans, namely Trichuris muris, Heligmosomoides polygygrus, Schistosoma mansoni, Giardia lamblia, Haemonchus contortus and Toxoplasma gondii. The ferrocene-containing ABZ analogue 2d exhibited over 70% activity against T. muris adults in vitro at 200 µM and no toxicity to mammalian cells (IC50 >100 µM). H. polygyrus adults were not affected by any of the derivatives tested. Against T. gondii, the ferrocene-containing ABZ analogues 1a and 2d showed better in vitro activity than ABZ and low toxicity to the host cells. The activity of the analogous ruthenocenyl compound 2b against S. mansoni and T. gondii in vitro might be attributed to its toxicity towards the host cells rather than a specific antiparasitic activity. These results demonstrate that the derivatives show a species specific in vitro activity and the choice of the organometallic moieties attached to the organic drug is playing a very important role. Two of our organometallic compounds, namely 1b and 2d, were tested in T. muris infected mice. At a 400 mg kg-1 dose, the compounds showed moderate worm burden reductions but low worm expulsion rates. Overall, this work, which is one of the first studies reporting the potential of organometallic compounds on a very broad range of parasitic helminths and protozoan, is a clear confirmation of the potential of organometallic complexes against parasites of medical and veterinary importance.

Do bismuth complexes hold promise as antileishmanial drugs?

Even after 70 years, pentavalent antimonials sodium stibogluconate and meglumine antimoniate remain the most important and cost-effective antileishmanial drugs. However, the drugs cannot be delivered orally and treatment involves intravascular or intramuscular injections for 28 days under strict medical monitoring due to the toxicity of Sb(III). The main alternatives, amphotericin B, pentamidine and miltefosine, are expensive and not without their own problems. Bismuth sits below antimony in the periodic table and is considered to be relatively nontoxic to humans while being capable of providing powerful antimicrobial activity. This review describes recent efforts into developing antileishmanial Bi(III) and Bi(V) drugs, which may resemble Sb analogs in effect and mode-of-action while providing lower mammalian cell toxicity and opportunities of oral delivery. Within the last 10 years, various studies concerning bismuth-based compounds as potential antileishmanial agents have been published. This review seeks to summarize the relevant studies and draw a conclusion as to whether bismuth complexes have the potential to be effective drugs.

Stability and toxicity of tris-tolyl bismuth(V) dicarboxylates and their biological activity towards Leishmania major.

A series of 29 tris-tolyl bismuth(v) di-carboxylato complexes of composition [Bi(Tol)3(O2CR)2] involving either ortho, meta or para substituted tolyl ligands have been synthesized and characterised. Of these 15 were assessed for their toxicity towards Leishmania promastigotes and human fibroblast cells, with ten then being subsequently assessed against parasite amastigotes. The carboxylate ligands are drawn from a series of substituted and biologically relevant benzoic acids which allow a comparison with earlier studies on [BiPh3(O2CR)2] and analogous Sb(v) [SbAr3(O2CR)2] (Ar = Ph and Tol) complexes. Twelve complexes have been structurally characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction and shown to adopt a typical trigonal bipyramidal geometry in which the three tolyl ligands occupy the equatorial plane. NMR studies on two illustrative examples indicate that the complexes are stable in D2O and DMSO but only have a half-life of 1.2 hours in culture medium, with glucose being a contributing factor in decomposition and reduction to Bi(Tol)3. Despite their short lifetime many complexes show significant toxicity towards promastigotes at low concentration (<6 µM) and at that concentration provide for good selectivity indices (parasite vs. mammalian cells), for example 114 for [Bi(o-Tol)3(O2CC6H3(2-OH,5-C6H3(2,4-F2)))2] and 838 for [Bi(m-Tol)3(O2CC6H4(2-OAc))2]. Best activity and selectivity is observed with complexes containing o- and m-tolyl ligands, and it appears the primary influence on fibroblast toxicity is the Ar ligand while the carboxylate influences promastigote toxicity. The complexes are less effective in vitro against the parasite amastigotes, where longer incubation times and harsher chemical and biological environments are encountered in the assay. Nevertheless, there were some statistically relevant differences at 1 µM against the positive controls with the best performing complexes being [Bi(o-Tol)3(O2CC6H4(2-EtO))2] and [Bi(m-Tol)3(O2CC6H4(2-OAc))2].

Stability and toxicity of heteroleptic organometallic Bi(V) complexes towards Leishmania major.

Eleven heteroleptic Bi(V) complexes of the form [BiPh3(O2CR)2] have been synthesised and fully characterised. The carboxylate ligands are derived from a series of simple substituted benzoic acids, four of which are common non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs). The solid-state structures of eight of the complexes were determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction, and all were shown to adopt a typical trigonal bipyramidal geometry with chelating carboxylate ligands. Nine of the complexes were assessed for their anti-parasitic activity against Leishmania major promastigotes and their cytotoxicity towards human fibroblasts. The assays indicated that while the complexes showed good anti-leishmanial activity with IC50 values ranging from 0.6 to 2.5 µM they were also non-selectively toxic towards the fibroblasts at similar or slightly higher concentrations. Using (1)H NMR, the stability of one of the complexes, [Bi(C6H5)3(O2CC6H3(m-OH)2)2] was studied in water, DMSO and in the DMEM culture medium. This showed that while the Bi(v) complex was stable in D2O and DMSO, the complex slowly decomposed in the culture medium undergoing reduction to give BiPh3 and the free acid. Since the acids and BiPh3 were not toxic to either the parasites or fibroblasts at the concentrations studied, the implication is that the Bi(v) complexes are stable enough for long enough to have significant in vitro anti-parasitic activity.