Harnessing Oleanolic Acid and Its Derivatives as Modulators of Metabolic Nuclear Receptors.

Nuclear receptors (NRs) constitute a superfamily of ligand-activated transcription factors with a paramount role in ubiquitous physiological functions such as metabolism, growth, and reproduction. Owing to their physiological role and druggability, NRs are deemed attractive and valid targets for medicinal chemists. Pentacyclic triterpenes (PTs) represent one of the most important phytochemical classes present in higher plants, where oleanolic acid (OA) is the most studied PTs representative owing to its multitude of biological activities against cancer, inflammation, diabetes, and liver injury. PTs possess a lipophilic skeleton that imitates the NRs endogenous ligands. Herein, we report a literature overview on the modulation of metabolic NRs by OA and its semi-synthetic derivatives, highlighting their health benefits and potential therapeutic applications. Indeed, OA exhibited varying pharmacological effects on FXR, PPAR, LXR, RXR, PXR, and ROR in a tissue-specific manner. Owing to these NRs modulation, OA showed prominent hepatoprotective properties comparable to ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) in a bile duct ligation mice model and antiatherosclerosis effect as simvastatin in a model of New Zealand white (NZW) rabbits. It also demonstrated a great promise in alleviating non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and liver fibrosis, attenuated alpha-naphthol isothiocyanate (ANIT)-induced cholestatic liver injury, and controlled blood glucose levels, making it a key player in the therapy of metabolic diseases. We also compiled OA semi-synthetic derivatives and explored their synthetic pathways and pharmacological effects on NRs, showcasing their structure-activity relationship (SAR). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first review article to highlight OA activity in terms of NRs modulation.

Application of isoindole fluorophore formation for determination of linagliptin in the sole and co-formulated tablets: Application for plasma assay and content uniformity testing.

Linagliptin is a new medicament belonging to dipeptidyl peptidase-4 enzyme inhibitors group. The mentioned medication is used to cure type 2 diabetes and is taken orally as a monotherapy or in a co-formulation with metformin. or empagliflozin. Herein, a novel, straightforward, and cost-effective method for linagliptin assay was developed with a workable use of an isoindole derivative. The primary amine moiety present in linagliptin enables its condensation with o-phthalaldehyde to form a fluorescent product in the presence of a sulfhydryl group-containing compound (2-mercaptoethanol) 0.01 % V/V. The isoindole fluorophore yield was monitored at (λexcitation 337.8 nm, λemission 434.3 nm) and all experimental variables were meticulously checked and adjusted. Fluorescence intensity versus linagliptin concentration was plotted to construct the calibration graph, and excellent linearity was achieved at values between 50 and 2000 ng/mL. The validity of the method was verified through a rigorous examination of the ICH guidelines. The method application was successful for linagliptin in different dosage forms, content uniformity study, and monitoring in spiked plasma. The devised technique was demonstrated to be a promising, easy, and quick alternate method for linagliptin assayin clinical study and quality control.

Two Versatile Pencil Graphite-Polymer Sensor Electrodes Coupled with Potentiometry and Potentiometric Titration Methods: Profiling Determinations of Vitamin V in Tablets and Urine Samples.

Herein, we developed a new pencil graphite ion-selective electrode strategy for the broadly used erectile dysfunction medication, sildenafil citrate (SC, vitamin V), for its automated potentiometry and potentiometric titration profiling in marketed tablets and human urine samples. The method was based on ion-pair complexation between SC and sodium tetraphenylborate (Na-TPB) or phosphotungstic acid (PTA), embedded into a pencil-fabricated graphite sensor electrode coated with poly(vinyl chloride, PVC) matrix, which is pre-plasticized with two different pre-studied plasticizers. The modern fabricated electrodes have a proven fast near-Nernstian response for SC over the concentration range of 1.0 × 10-6 to 1.0 × 10-2 and 1.0 × 10-5 to 1.0 × 10-2 M, with LODs of 6.5 × 10-7 and 5.5 × 10-6 over a pH 3-6 for (SC-TPB)- and (SC-PTA)-based membrane sensors, of O-nitrophenyl octyl ether (O-NPOE) and dioctyl phthalate (DOP), respectively. The selectivity coefficients for different interferents, including many inorganic cations, sugars, and/or nitrogenous compounds, were tested and confirmed. Applications of the proposed method were conducted on the determination of SC in its tablets and urine samples under the proper conditions. The percent recovery values were compared with those obtained by an official method and showed an RSD ≤ 0.3% (n = 5).

Selective fluorescence labeling of myristicin using Mizoroki-Heck coupling reaction. Application to nutmeg powder, oil, and human plasma samples.

Myristicin [5-allyl-1­methoxy-2,3-(methylenedioxy)benzene] is the major constituent of the seasoning nutmeg oil and powder. Sometimes myristicin is abused via its ingestion at high doses to cause hallucination. In these high doses, myristicin could cause severe adverse health effects, including convulsion, delirium, and palpitation. Hence there is a strong need for a sensitive method for its analysis, such as fluorescence determination. Myristicin has a very weak fluorescence and also lacks derivatizable groups like the carboxylic, hydroxyl, or amino group in its structure, which makes its fluorescence derivatization challenging. In this research, we developed a fluorescence labeling method for myristicin based on the Mizoroki-Heck coupling reaction of its terminal alkene with a fluorescent aryl iodide derivative, 4-(4,5-diphenyl-1H-imidazol-2-yl)iodobenzene (DIB-I). Then, we developed an HPLC fluorescence detection method for the determination of myristicin utilizing this labeling reaction. The developed method showed a good linear response for myristicin (r = 0.995) in the range of 0.01-10 µmol/L with excellent sensitivity down to the detection limit of 2.9 nmol/L (9.6 fmol/injection). Finally, the developed method could be successfully applied to determine myristicin content in nutmeg powder, oil samples, and human plasma with simple extraction methods and good recoveries ranging from 89.3 to 106%.

Scaffold Repurposing Reveals New Nanomolar Phosphodiesterase Type 5 (PDE5) Inhibitors Based on Pyridopyrazinone Scaffold: Investigation of In Vitro and In Silico Properties.

Inhibition of PDE5 results in elevation of cGMP leading to vascular relaxation and reduction in the systemic blood pressure. Therefore, PDE5 inhibitors are used as antihypertensive and antianginal agents in addition to their major use as male erectile dysfunction treatments. Previously, we developed a novel series of 34 pyridopyrazinone derivatives as anticancer agents (series A-H). Herein, a multi-step in silico approach was preliminary conducted to evaluate the predicted PDE5 inhibitory activity, followed by an in vitro biological evaluation over the enzymatic level and a detailed SAR study. The designed 2D-QSAR model which was carried out to predict the IC50 of the tested compounds revealed series B, D, E and G with nanomolar range of IC50 values (6.00-81.56 nM). A further docking simulation model was performed to investigate the binding modes within the active site of PDE5. Interestingly, most of the tested compounds showed almost the same binding modes of that of reported PDE5 inhibitors. To validate the in silico results, an in vitro enzymatic assay over PDE5 enzyme was performed for a number of the promising candidates with different substitutions. Both series E and G exhibited a potent inhibitory activity (IC50 = 18.13-41.41 nM). Compound 11b (series G, oxadiazole-based derivatives with terminal 4-NO2 substituted phenyl ring and rigid linker) was the most potent analogue with IC50 value of 18.13 nM. Structure-activity relationship (SAR) data attained for various substitutions were rationalized. Furthermore, a molecular dynamic simulation gave insights into the inhibitory activity of the most active compound (11b). Accordingly, this report presents a successful scaffold repurposing approach that reveals compound 11b as a highly potent nanomolar PDE5 inhibitor worthy of further investigation.

Design, Synthesis, Biological Evaluation, and Molecular Dynamics Studies of Novel Lapatinib Derivatives.

Co-expression of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR, also known as ErbB1) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) has been identified as a diagnostic or prognostic sign in various tumors. Despite the fact that lapatinib (EGFR/HER2 dual inhibitor) has shown to be successful, many patients do not respond to it or develop resistance for a variety of reasons that are still unclear. As a result, new approaches and inhibitory small molecules are still needed for EGFR/HER2 inhibition. Herein, novel lapatinib derivatives possessing 4-anilinoquinazoline and imidazole scaffolds (6a-l) were developed and screened as EGFR/HER2 dual inhibitors. In vitro and in silico investigations revealed that compound 6j has a high affinity for the ATP-binding regions of EGFR and HER2. All of the designed candidates were predicted to not penetrate the BBB, raising the expectation for the absence of CNS side effects. At 10 µM, derivatives possessing 3-chloro-4-(pyridin-2-ylmethoxy)aniline moiety (6i-l) demonstrated outstanding ranges of percentage inhibition against EGFR (97.65-99.03%) and HER2 (87.16-96.73%). Compound 6j showed nanomolar IC50 values over both kinases (1.8 nM over EGFR and 87.8 nM over HER2). Over EGFR, compound 6j was found to be 50-fold more potent than staurosporine and 6-fold more potent than lapatinib. A kinase selectivity panel of compound 6j showed poor to weak inhibitory activity over CDK2/cyclin A, c-MET, FGFR1, KDR/VEGFR2, and P38a/MAPK14, respectively. Structure-activity relationship (SAR) that were obtained with different substitutions were justified. Additionally, molecular docking and molecular dynamics studies revealed insights into the binding mode of the target compounds. Thus, compound 6j was identified as a highly effective and dual EGFR/HER2 inhibitor worthy of further investigation.

Current trends in isotope-coded derivatization liquid chromatographic-mass spectrometric analyses with special emphasis on their biomedical application.

Currently, LC-MS has various applications in different areas such as metabolomics, pharmacokinetics, and pathological studies. Yet, matrix effects resulting from co-existing constituents remain a major problem for LC-MS [or LC-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)]. Moreover, technical problems and instrumental drifts may lead to ion abundance variance. Thus, an internal standard (IS) is required to guarantee the accuracy and precision of the method. Because of their limited number, isotope-coded derivatization (ICD) has been recently introduced to overcome this problem. For ICD, a stable heavy isotope-coded moiety is used for labeling the standard or the control sample and the formed products can act as ISs. A light form of the reagent is used for labeling the sample. Then, both are mixed and analyzed by LC-MS(/MS). This strategy permits the identification of different unknown analytes including potential metabolites and disease biomarkers. All these attributes lead to persistent growth in the applications of ICD LC-MS(/MS) in various biomedical branches. In this article we review the ICD methods published in the last eight years for biomedical applications as well as briefly summarize other applications for environmental and food analyses as some of their used ICD reagents were further applied for analyzing biological specimens or have the potential for that.

Chromatographic methods and sample pretreatment techniques for aldehydes determination in biological, food, and environmental samples.

Aldehydes are very reactive carbonyl compounds that are widespread naturally. Aldehydes can be produced in vivo by oxidative reactions and are able to disturb biological functions through binding and modifying biomolecules. Thus, it is necessary to determine their levels in biological samples to estimate their possible adverse effect on human health in addition to their consideration as a biomarker for oxidative stress-related diseases. Furthermore, aldehydes have been found in foodstuffs as by-products of food processing or deterioration and their amounts in food samples were used as an indicator of its quality. Aldehydes also are widely distributed in the environment sourced from the industrial and motor vehicular exhausts and human exposure to them could bring many adverse health effects. From these viewpoints, an effective analytical method for the determination of aldehydes should be essential in various fields including biological, clinical, environmental, and food sciences. Among analytical methodologies, chromatographic determination methods should be suitable tools for the simultaneous determination of wide variety of aldehydes. Derivatization reactions are frequently applied for aldehydes to improve their detection sensitivity as most of them do not possess detectable moiety. Also, derivatization can control their retention behavior on HPLC columns. Moreover, sample pretreatment procedures for aldehydes to modify their high volatility, reactivity, polarity, and inherent instability is vital for their pre-concentration and avoiding matrix effects. In this review, chromatographic determination methods for aldehydes are summarized mainly according to the recent reports with the analytical techniques including the effective extraction and chemical derivatization. Besides, the applications for the chromatographic determination of aldehydes are summarized and significant findings obtained by the application studies are described.

Detection of hydrogen sulfide in water samples with 2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-4,5-di(2-pyridyl)imidazole-copper(II) complex using environmentally green microplate fluorescence assay method.

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a colorless toxic gas which can be found as HS- in rivers and waste waters especially in the occupational susceptible environment. Herein we synthesized a lophine analogue, 2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-4,5-di(2-pyridyl)imidazole (HPI), which fluoresces at 410 nm after excitation at 280 nm. HPI has an imidazole ring and a pyridine ring which are capable of forming coordinate bonds with copper (Cu(II)) that cause quenching of HPI fluorescence. We found that HS- can selectively liberate HPI from the complex via formation of CuS, thus, HPI regains its fluorescence properties. Interestingly, the probe was proved to be regenerable. This reaction was used for the development of a fluorescence microplate assay for the determination of HS- in environmental samples. The method was applied to river water samples and was able to detect HS- in concentrations down to 5 ppb with acceptable accuracy (90.3-103.0%) and good precision (%RSD ≤ 4.1). The method showed many advantages over the previously reported ones including instantaneous reaction, simple probe synthesis, high-throughput, high selectivity toward hydrogen sulfide over other ions and sulfur or thiol containing compounds and at last, it complies with the green chemistry rules through using a regenerable probe, aqueous solvents, and miniaturized measurement system.

Aromatic aldehydes as selective fluorogenic derivatizing agents for α-dicarbonyl compounds. Application to HPLC analysis of some advanced glycation end products and oxidative stress biomarkers in human serum.

α-Dicarbonyl compounds (α-DCs) are very clinically important as they are considered as advanced glycation end products (AGEs) precursors and biomarkers for many chronic diseases such as diabetes and vascular diseases, in addition to their major role in progression of complications of such diseases. Aromatic aldehydes and ammonium acetate were productively used as a one-pot co-reagents for fluorogenic derivatization of α-DCs yielding fluorescent imidazole derivatives. Among the tried aromatic aldehydes, 4-carbomethoxybenzaldehyde yielded the products with best fluorescent characters. This approach for fluorogenic derivatization of α-DCs overcome the selectivity problem of the most commonly used derivatization reagent for α-DCs, α-diamino compounds, that can react unselectively with α-DCs and aldehydes. Separation of the formed imidazole derivatives of five α-DCs including glucosone, 3-deoxyglucosone, glyoxal, methyl glyoxal and dimethyl glyoxal together with ethylmethylglyoxal as an internal standard was carried out on an octyl column using a mobile phase consisted of methanol-water (15:85, v/v%) containing 0.2% formic acid with time programed flow, followed by fluorescence detection at excitation/emission wavelengths of 310/410 nm. The method showed excellent sensitivity for the targeted α-DCs with limits of detections ranging from 0.4 to 5.0 nM in human serum. Simple protein precipitation procedure was used for human serum treatment yielding very good recovery (91-105%) for the targeted α-DCs. The developed method was fully validated, then applied to the analysis of the five above mentioned clinically important α-DCs in serum samples of healthy, diabetic, rheumatic and cardiac disorders human volunteers. Due to the excellent analytical features of the developed method, including high selectivity and sensitivity, it was able to detect the pattern of the targeted α-DCs serum levels under the investigated different clinical conditions.

Ultrasensitive determination of pyrroloquinoline quinone in human plasma by HPLC with chemiluminescence detection using the redox cycle of quinone.

A fast, accurate, and ultrasensitive high-performance liquid chromatography method with chemiluminescence detection (HPLC-CL) was optimized and validated for the determination of pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) concentration in human plasma following solid-phase extraction (SPE). This method is based on the redox cycle of the reaction between PQQ and dithiothreitol, which generates reactive oxygen species that can be detected using luminol as a CL probe. The isocratic HPLC system comprised an ODS column and 4.0mM tetra-n-butylammonium bromide in Tris-HNO3 buffer (pH 8.8; 50mM)-acetonitrile (7:3, v/v) as mobile phase. A novel, rapid, and simple SPE method was also developed providing excellent %recovery (≥95.2%) for PQQ from human plasma samples. The proposed method was linear over the range of 4.0-400nmol/L plasma of PQQ with a lower detection limit (S/N=3) of 1.08 nmol/L plasma (0.27nM). The method was successfully implemented to determine PQQ concentration in the plasma of healthy individuals after administration of PQQ supplements.

Determination of human serum semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidase activity via flow injection analysis with fluorescence detection after online derivatization of the enzymatically produced benzaldehyde with 1,2-diaminoanthraquinone.

A fast, simple, and sensitive flow injection analysis method was developed for the measurement of semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidase (SSAO) activity in human serum. Benzaldehyde, generated by the action of SSAO after incubation of serum with benzylamine, was derivatized with a novel aromatic aldehyde-specific reagent (1,2-diaminoanthraquinone) and the fluorescent product was measured by fluorescence detection at excitation and emission wavelengths of 390 and 570nm, respectively. Serum SSAO activity was defined as benzaldehyde (nmol) formed per milliliter serum per hour. The method was linear over SSAO activity of 0.2-150.0nmolmL(-1)h(-1) with a detection limit of 0.06nmolmL(-1)h(-1). The %RSD of intra-day and inter-day precision did not exceed 9.4% and the accuracy ranged from -6.5 to -0.6%. The method was applied for the determination of the serum SSAO activity in healthy controls (C, n=24) and diabetes mellitus patients (DM, n=18). It was demonstrated that the activity (mean±SE) of SSAO in diabetics sera was significantly higher than that in healthy subjects' ones (DM; 73.3±1.8nmolmL(-1)h(-1)vs C; 58.9±2.2nmolmL(-1)h(-1), P<0.01).

Analytical method for lipoperoxidation relevant reactive aldehydes in human sera by high-performance liquid chromatography-fluorescence detection.

A validated, simple and sensitive HPLC method was developed for the simultaneous determination of lipoperoxidation relevant reactive aldehydes: glyoxal (GO), acrolein (ACR), malondialdehyde (MDA), and 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (HNE) in human serum. The studied aldehydes were reacted with 2,2'-furil to form fluorescent difurylimidazole derivatives that were separated on a C18 column using gradient elution and fluorescence detection at excitation and emission wavelengths of 250 and 355nm, respectively. The method showed good linearity over the concentration ranges of 0.100-5.00, 0.200-10.0, 0.200-40.0, and 0.400-10.0nmol/mL for GO, ACR, HNE, and MDA, respectively, with detection limits ranging from 0.030 to 0.11nmol/mL. The percentage RSD of intraday and interday precision did not exceed 5.0 and 6.2%, respectively, and the accuracy (%found) ranged from 95.5 to 103%. The proposed method was applied for monitoring the four aldehydes in sera of healthy, diabetic, and rheumatic human subjects with simple pretreatment steps and without interference from endogenous components. By virtue of its high sensitivity and accuracy, our method enabled detection of differences between analytes concentrations in sera of human subjects under different clinical conditions.

Synchronous fluorescence spectrofluorimetric method for the simultaneous determination of metoprolol and felodipine in combined pharmaceutical preparation.

A rapid, simple and sensitive synchronous specrtofluorimetric method has been developed for the simultaneous analysis of binary mixture of metoprolol (MTP) and felodipine (FDP). The method is based upon measurement of the synchronous fluorescence intensity of the two drugs at Δλ of 70 nm in aqueous solution. The different experimental parameters affecting the synchronous fluorescence intensities of the two drugs were carefully studied and optimized. The fluorescence intensity-concentration plots were rectilinear over the ranges of 0.5-10 µg/mL and 0.2-2 µg/mL for MTP and FDP, respectively. The limits of detection were 0.11 and 0.02 µg/mL and quantification limits were 0.32 and 0.06 µg/mL for MTP and FDP, respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied for the determination of the two compounds in their commercial tablets and the results obtained were favorably compared to those obtained with a comparison method.

Utility of certain nucleophilic aromatic substitution reactions for the assay of pregabalin in capsules.

BACKGROUND: Pregabalin (PG) is an anticonvulsant, analgesic and anxiolytic drug. A survey of the literature reveals that all the reported spectrophotometric methods are either don't offer high sensitivity, need tedious extraction procedures, recommend the measurement of absorbance in the near UV region where interference most probably occurs and/or use non specific reagent that don't offer suitable linearity range. RESULTS: Two new sensitive and simple spectrophotometric methods were developed for determination of pregabalin (PG) in capsules. Method (I) is based on the reaction of PG with 1,2-naphthoquinone-4-sulphonate sodium (NQS), yielding an orange colored product that was measured at 473 nm. Method (II) is based on the reaction of the drug with 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB) producing a yellow product measured at 373 nm. The different experimental parameters affecting the development and stability of the reaction product in methods (I) and (II) were carefully studied and optimized. The absorbance-concentration plots were rectilinear over the concentration ranges of 2-25 and 0.5-8 µg mL-1 for methods (I) and (II) respectively. The lower detection limits (LOD) were 0.15 and 0.13 µg mL-1 and the lower quantitation limits (LOQ) were 0.46 and 0.4 µg mL-1 for methods (I) and (II) respectively. CONCLUSION: The developed methods were successfully applied to the analysis of the drug in its commercial capsules. The mean percentage recoveries of PG in its capsule were 99.11 ± 0.98 and 100.11 ± 1.2 (n = 3). Statistical analysis of the results revealed good agreement with those given by the comparison method. Proposals of the reaction pathways were postulated.