ABSTRACT
Bipolar disorders still represent a global unmet medical need and pose a requirement for novel effective treatments. In this respect, glycogen synthase kinase 3ß (GSK-3ß) aberrant activity has been linked to the pathophysiology of several disease conditions, including mood disorders. Therefore, the development of GSK-3ß inhibitors with good in vivo efficacy and safety profile associated with high brain exposure is required. Accordingly, we have previously reported the selective indazole-based GSK-3 inhibitor 1, which showed excellent efficacy in a mouse model of mania. Despite the favorable preclinical profile, analog 1 suffered from activity at the hERG ion channel, which prevented its further progression. Herein, we describe our strategy to improve this off-target liability through modulation of physicochemical properties, such as lipophilicity and basicity. These efforts led to the potent inhibitor 14, which possessed reduced hERG affinity, promising in vitro ADME properties, and was very effective in a mood stabilizer in vivo model.
ABSTRACT
AIM: Trazodone (TZD) is used for the treatment of depression in adults and, off-label, as a sleep medication in adult and pediatric populations. The off-label use is well documented, however further clinical studies are needed to confirm its efficacy and safety for the treatment of sleep disorders. In this scenario, we developed a bioanalytical method to quantify low TZD concentrations in samples collected by capillary microsampling (CMS) to support dose finding, Good Laboratory Practice juvenile rat toxicokinetic and upcoming pediatric studies. METHODOLOGY: A method using only 8 µl of plasma was developed and successfully used for analyzing CMS samples from juvenile rats throughout toxicokinetic study. CONCLUSION: By harmoniously maximizing each analytical step, we achieved a sensitive method to quantify TZD in CMS samples.
