Seladelpar combined with complementary therapies improves fibrosis, inflammation, and liver injury in a mouse model of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.

Seladelpar, a selective peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor δ (PPARδ) agonist, improves markers of hepatic injury in human liver diseases, but histological improvement of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and liver fibrosis has been challenging with any single agent. To discover how complementary agents could work with seladelpar to achieve optimal outcomes, this study evaluated a variety of therapeutics (alone and in combination) in a mouse model of NASH. Mice on a high-fat amylin liver NASH (AMLN) diet were treated for 12 wk with seladelpar, GLP-1-R (glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor) agonist liraglutide, apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 (ASK1) inhibitor selonsertib, farnesoid X receptor (FXR) agonist obeticholic acid, and with seladelpar in combination with liraglutide or selonsertib. Seladelpar treatment markedly improved plasma markers of liver function. Seladelpar alone or in combination resulted in stark reductions in liver fibrosis (hydroxyproline, new collagen synthesis rate, mRNA indices of fibrosis, and fibrosis staining) compared with vehicle and the other single agents. Robust reductions in liver steatosis were also observed. Seladelpar produced a reorganization of metabolic gene expression, particularly for those genes promoting peroxisomal and mitochondrial lipid oxidation. In summary, substantial improvements in NASH and NASH-induced fibrosis were observed with seladelpar alone and in combination with liraglutide in this model. Broad gene expression analysis suggests seladelpar should be effective in concert with diverse mechanisms of action.NEW & NOTEWORTHY NASH is a chronic, progressive, and increasingly problematic liver disease that has been resistant to treatment with individual therapeutics. In this study using a diet-induced mouse model of NASH, we found that the PPARδ agonist seladelpar reduced fibrosis and NASH pathology alone and in combinations with a GLP-1-R agonist (liraglutide) or an ASK1 inhibitor (selonsertib). Liver transcriptome analysis comparing each agent and coadministration suggests seladelpar should be effective in combination with a variety of therapeutics.

Palladium Catalyzed Cyclopropanation of Unsaturated Endoperoxides. A New Peroxide Preserving Reaction.

Unsaturated bicyclic endoperoxides are efficiently cyclopropanated with excess diazomethane in the presence of catalytic Pd(OAc)2 in a stereoselective manner. This method represents a new peroxide preserving transformation. Whereas the unsaturated endoperoxides in the [2.2.1] series are attacked by the carbene from the exo face, the analogs with larger bridges are preferentially attacked from the face syn to the peroxo bridge. Only in the case of the benzannelated [2.2.2] system the attack occurs exclusively from the face proximal to the benzene ring. Certain strained cyclopropanated endoperoxides are reduced by diazomethane to give cis-diols. 1-Methylfuran endoperoxide gives rise to cis-1-formyl-2-acetylcyclopropane in excellent yield.

Photooxygenation of 5-dialkylamino-4-pyrrolin-3-ones. Synthesis of highly functionalized ureas, 2-oxazolidinones, and 2-oxazolinones.

5-Dialkylamino-4-pyrrolin-3-ones, available from cyclocondensation of amidines with dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate (DMAD), undergo rapid singlet oxygenation to give highly functionalized ureas by way of a 1,2-dioxetane cleavage of the initially formed [2 + 2] cycloadducts. These latter compounds undergo cyclization to 2-oxazolidinones in MeOH. Catalytic hydrogenation of the ureas in EtOAc gives 2-oxazolinones. The DBU-DMAD adduct undergoes photooxygenation by an entirely different pathway to give a large ring heterocycle.

Unusual endoperoxide isomerizations: a convenient entry into 2-vinyl-2-cyclopentenones from saturated fulvene endoperoxides.

An unusual peroxide base promoted isomerization was uncovered. Saturated endoperoxides derived from fulvenes give rise to 2-vinyl-2-cyclopentenones upon treatment with DBU in CH(2)Cl(2) in a one-pot reaction. This methodology was applied to a convenient synthesis of dihydrojasmone. Moreover, functional groups placed on the side chain at C-6 participate in the base catalyzed isomerizations via conjugate attack at the enone moiety to give 2-cyclopentenones carrying oxygen heterocycles at C2.