Synthesis and biological evaluation of benzimidazole derivatives as potent AMP-activated protein kinase activators.

Design, synthesis and structure-activity relationships of benzimidazole derivatives as activators of the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) are presented in this paper. AMPK is the central component of a protein kinase cascade that plays a key role in the regulation of energy balance. Once activated, AMPK initiates a series of responses that are aimed at restoring the energy balance of the cell and recent studies have indicated that AMPK plays an important role in regulation of the whole-body energy metabolism. The following study based on the lead compound S27847 involved modification of three regions of this compound. Preliminary structure-activity relationships are being described.

Design and synthesis of novel imidazoline derivatives with potent antihyperglycemic activity in a rat model of type 2 diabetes.

Imidazoline derivatives have been reported to show antihyperglycemic activity in vivo. In the present study, we first showed that there was no correlation between the in vivo antidiabetic activity and the in vitro affinities for the I1/I2 binding sites for several substituted aryl imidazolines. Among these compounds, 2-(alpha-cyclohexyl-benzyl)-4,5-dihydro-1H-imidazole 2 exhibited potent antihyperglycemic properties. It was then chosen as lead compound. Thirty-six new derivatives were synthesized by replacing the cyclohexyl/benzyl group by various cyclic systems or the imidazoline ring by isosteric heterocycles. These compounds were evaluated in vivo for their antihyperglycemic activity using an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) in a rat model of type-2 diabetes obtained by giving a single intravenous (iv) injection of a low dose of streptozotocin to rats (STZ rats) and in normal rats. Nine compounds with an imidazoline moiety, possibly substituted by a methyl group, had a potent effect on the glucose tolerance in normal or STZ-diabetic rats, after an oral (po) administration of the test compound at a dose of 30 or 10 mg kg(-1), without any hypoglycemia. Replacement of the imidazoline ring by isosteric heterocycles resulted in a total loss of activity.