Selective and potent beta 2-adrenoceptor agents within the tetrahydroisoquinoline class: effect of methyl substitution at the benzylic carbon of the 1-(3,4,5-trimethoxybenzyl) group of trimetoquinol.

A systematic series of methyl (2 and 3) and dimethyl (4) analogues of trimetoquinol (1) were synthesized and evaluated for their beta 1 (atria) and beta 2 (trachea) and adrenoceptor activities. Structural assignments for the erythro (2) and the threo (3) diastereoisomers of 1-(3,4,5-trimethoxy-alpha-methylbenzyl)-6,7-dihydroxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline were based on NMR spectra of the 6,7-dibenzyl precursors 15 and 16, respectively, and on the synthetic derivatives of cis- and trans-13-methyl-2,3-bis(benzyloxy)-9,10,11-trimethoxytetrahydroprotoberberine (18 and 17). The rank order of beta 2-agonist activity for these compounds was 3 greater than 1 greater than 2 greater than 4. The rank order of activity as beta 1 agonists on the guinea pig atria is 1 greater than 3 greater than 2, and 4 was inactive. The methylated analogues show selectivity for beta 2 receptors in our preliminary pharmacological studies. The threo isomer 3 is the most potent and selective beta 2 stimulant reported to date in the tetrahydroisoquinoline class.

4-Keto niridazole: a major niridazole metabolite with central nervous system toxicity different than niridazole.

4-Keto niridazole, isolated by high-pressure liquid chromatography, was identified by high resolution electron impact mass spectral analysis as a major drug metabolite of niridazole in the serum or plasma of rats and mice treated orally or i.p. with niridazole. This metabolite has a pKa of 5.8 and is approximately 40% bound at physiologic pH to serum proteins of mice receiving therapeutic doses of niridazole. After i.p. injection of niridazole (160 mg/kg), peak serum levels of 4-keto niridazole (10.4 micrograms/ml) were reached within 6 hr in DBA/2J mice. The acute LD50 for 4-keto niridazole i.p. was 55 mg/kg in DBA/2J mice and 51 mg/kg in C57BL/6J mice; the comparable value for niridazole was 220 mg/kg in DBA/2J mice. Signs of acute 4-keto niridazole toxicity were different from those of niridazole toxicity and consisted of profound sedation and labored, irregular breathing terminating in respiratory arrest. Daily i.p. injection of 30 mg/kg of 4-keto niridazole for 5 days into DBA/2J mice resulted in no evidence of cumulative toxicity. The serum and brain concentrations of 4-keto niridazole after a 70-mg/kg i.p. LD90 dose of this compound were 93 micrograms/ml and 7.5 micrograms/g just before death. If an LD90 dose of niridazole (285 mg/kg) was injected into DBA/2J mice, the serum and brain concentrations of 4-keto niridazole just before death were 15 and 5%, respectively, of those found after an LD90 dose of 4-keto niridazole. Thus, 4-keto niridazole does not appear to account for the central nervous system toxicity of niridazole.

Concentration-time course of niridazole and six metabolites in the serum of four Filipinos with Schistosoma japonicum infection.

Niridazole and six of its metabolites have been quantitated by high-pressure liquid chromatography in sera of four male Filipino patients with mild Schistosoma japonicum infections given single oral doses of niridazole (15 mg/kg) on two occasions 10 days apart. Of the five oxidative metabolites measured, 4-hydroxyniridazole and 4-ketoniridazole achieved the highest concentrations, reaching peak values of 0.9 +/- 0.3 microgram/ml of serum (mean +/- S.D., n = 4) and 0.7 +/- 0.1 microgram/ml of serum within 1 to 4 hr. 4-Ketoniridazole achieved peak serum levels 1 hr after the other oxidative metabolites in three of four patients and was the predominant metabolite in the serum of all patients 6 to 10 hr after dosing. By 24 hr, both 4-ketoniridazole and 4-hydroxyniridazole had largely disappeared from the serum. Niridazole and three other oxidative metabolites, 4,5-dihydroxyniridazole, 5-hydroxyniridazole and 4,5-dehydroniridazole, appeared within 1 hr in serum but failed to exceed 0.4 microgram/ml; none of these compounds were detected in the 24-hr serum samples. The pharmacokinetic pattern of niridazole and the oxidative metabolites showed marked interindividual variation but was quite reproducible in the same individual studied 10 days later. 1-Thiocarbamoyl-2-imidazolidinone was analyzed in serum samples by a different high-pressure liquid chromatographic procedure. This reductive metabolite attained maximal levels of 50 to 150 ng/ml of serum 6 to 12 hr after drug administration and remained at 40% or more of its peak concentration even after 24 hr.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)