Structure-activity relationship and mechanistic study on guggulsterone derivatives; Discovery of new anti-pancreatic cancer candidate.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest types of malignancies. A new intervention aiming to combat pancreatic cancer is targeting its extra-ordinary ability to tolerate nutrition starvation, a phenomenon known as "Austerity". As a part of a research program aiming to develop a new-generation of anticancer agents, known as "anti-austerity agents", guggulsterone derivatives (GSDs) were identified as unique anti-austerity agents in terms of potency and selectivity. These agents are able to exert preferential cytotoxic activity only under nutrient-deprived conditions with little or no toxicity under normal conditions. In the present study, a library of 14 GSDs was synthesized and screened against PANC-1 human pancreatic cells. Among tested compounds, GSD-11 showed the most potent activity with PC50 a value of 0.72 µM. It also inhibited pancreatic cancer cell migration and colony formation in a concentration-dependent manner. A mechanistic study revealed that this compound can inhibit the activation of the Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. Therefore, GSD-11 could be a promising lead compound for the anticancer drug discovery against pancreatic cancer.

Synthesis of Norgestomet and its 17ß-isomer and evaluation of their agonistic activities against progesterone receptor.

Norgestomet is a synthetic progesterone derivative applied in veterinary medicine to control estrus and ovulation in cattle. Norgestomet has been widely used in the livestock industry to promote the synchronization of estrus in cattle and increase pregnancy rates. However, highly reproducible synthetic methods for Norgestomet have been rarely reported. Here, we described a method for the synthesis of Norgestomet and performed quantitative NMR analysis to determine the purity of the products. Moreover, the agonistic activity of the synthesized compounds against progesterone receptors (PRs) was evaluated using an alkaline phosphatase assay. We synthesized Norgestomet with 97.9% purity that exhibited agonistic activity against PR with EC50 values of 4.5 nM. We also synthesized the 17ß-isomer of Norgestomet with 92.7% purity that did not exhibit any PR agonistic activity. The proposed synthetic route of Norgestomet can facilitate the assessment of residual Norgestomet in foods.

Tuning of α-Silyl Carbocation Reactivity into Enone Transposition: Application to the Synthesis of Peribysin D, E-Volkendousin, and E-Guggulsterone.

A reliable method for enone transposition has been developed with the help of silyl group masking. Enantio-switching, substituent shuffling, and Z-selectivity are the highlights of the method. The developed method was applied for the first total synthesis of peribysin D along with its structural revision. Formal synthesis of E-guggulsterone and E-volkendousin was also claimed using a short sequence.

Type 5 17-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase/prostaglandin F synthase (AKR1C3) inhibition and potential anti-proliferative activity of cholest-4-ene-3,6-dione in MCF-7 breast cancer cells.

Cholest-4-ene-3,6-dione (KS) is a cholesterol oxidation product which exhibits anti-proliferative activity. However, its precise mechanism of action remains unknown. In this study, the effects of KS on AKR1C3 inhibition and anti-proliferative activities were investigated in the hormone-dependent MCF-7 breast cancer cells. We identified that KS arrested the enzymatic conversion of estrone to 17-ß estradiol, by inhibiting AKR1C3 in intact MCF-7 cells. The anti-proliferative effects of KS were evaluated by MTT assay, acridine orange and ethidium bromide dual staining, cell cycle analysis and Western blotting. KS arrested the cell cycle progression in the G1 phase with a concomitant increase of the Sub-G0 population to increase in concentration and time. It also enhanced the p53 and NFkB expression and induced caspase-12, 9 and 3 processing and down-regulated the Bcl-2 expression. Molecular docking studies performed to understand the inhibition mechanism of KS on AKR1C3 revealed that KS occupied the binding region of AKR1C3 with almost similar orientation as indomethacin (IM), thereby acting as an antagonistic agent for AKR1C3. Based on the results it is identified that KS induces inhibition of AKR1C3 and cell death in MCF-7 cells. These results indicate that KS can be used as a molecular scaffold for further development of novel small-molecules with better specificity towards AKR1C3.

Guggulipid: A Promising Multi-Purpose Herbal Medicinal Agent.

Herbal medicines therapy is appreciated by many research works because herbal drugs have relatively high therapeutic window, lower side effects and more cost effective. Guggulipid is an ethyl acetate extract of resin known as guggul from the tree Commiphora wightii / mukul (Arn.) Bhandari. Chemical analysis revealed that the compounds responsible for the major activities of gum guggul are the isomers E- and Z-guggulsterone. Guggul has been used for thousands of years in the treatment of arthritis, inflammation, obesity, cardiac protection, anti-ulcer, anti-epileptic and disorders of lipid metabolism. This review is an assortment of available information reported on its chemical, pharmacological and toxicological properties in various research studies. The available therapeutic properties of guggulipid make it suitable natural product for the treatment of various disorders like inflammation, pain, wounds, liver disorder and Acne etc. Graphical Abstract Graphical Abstract.

Drug Repurposing Approach for Developing Novel Therapy Against Mupirocin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Multidrug resistance (MDR) is a major health issue for the treatment of infectious diseases throughout the world. Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a Gram-positive bacteria, responsible for various local and systemic infections in humans. The continuous and abrupt use of antibiotics against bacteria such as S. aureus results in the development of resistant strains. Presently, mupirocin (MUP) is the drug of choice against S. aureus and MDR (methicillin-resistant). However, S. aureus has acquired resistance against MUP as well due to isoleucyl-tRNA synthetase (IleS) mutation at sites 588 and 631. Thus, the aim of the present study was to discover novel bioactives against MUP-resistant S. aureus using in silico drug repurposing approaches. In silico drug repurposing techniques were used to obtain suitable bioactive lead molecules such as buclizine, tasosartan, emetine, medrysone, and so on. These lead molecules might be able to resolve this issue. These leads were obtained through molecular docking simulation based virtual screening, which could be promising for the treatment of MUP-resistant S. aureus. The findings of the present work need to be validated further through in vitro and in vivo studies for their clinical application.

Simultaneous Determination of Co-administrated Deflazacort, Aprepitant and Granisetron in Dosage Forms and Spiked Human Plasma by RP-HPLC/PAD.

A selective reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography/photodiode array detector (RP-HPLC/PAD) method has been developed for simultaneous determination of the three co-administrated deflazacort, aprepitant and granisetron drugs used with chemotherapy. The three cited drugs have been chromatographed on C18 column using a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile-0.2% v/v triethylamine (80:20 v/v, pH of 6.6 ± 0.05) with isocratic elution and monitored by photodiode array at 220 nm. International conference on harmonization (ICH) guidelines were followed to validate the developed method. Successful application of the developed method was assessed by the simultaneous determination of the studied drugs in pure forms, dosage forms and plasma samples in the ranges of 0.2-20, 0.4-40 and 0.2-20 µg/mL for deflazacort, aprepitant and granisetron, respectively.

1064 nm Dispersive Raman Microspectroscopy and Optical Trapping of Pharmaceutical Aerosols.

Raman spectroscopy is a powerful tool for investigating chemical composition. Coupling Raman spectroscopy with optical microscopy (Raman microspectroscopy) and optical trapping (Raman tweezers) allows microscopic length scales and, hence, femtolitre volumes to be probed. Raman microspectroscopy typically uses UV/visible excitation lasers, but many samples, including organic molecules and complex tissue samples, fluoresce strongly at these wavelengths. Here we report the development and application of dispersive Raman microspectroscopy designed around a near-infrared continuous wave 1064 nm excitation light source. We analyze microparticles (1-5 µm diameter) composed of polystyrene latex and from three real-world pressurized metered dose inhalers (pMDIs) used in the treatment of asthma: salmeterol xinafoate (Serevent), salbutamol sulfate (Salamol), and ciclesonide (Alvesco). For the first time, single particles are captured, optically levitated, and analyzed using the same 1064 nm laser, which permits a convenient nondestructive chemical analysis of the true aerosol phase. We show that particles exhibiting overwhelming fluorescence using a visible laser (514.5 nm) can be successfully analyzed with 1064 nm excitation, irrespective of sample composition and irradiation time. Spectra are acquired rapidly (1-5 min) with a wavelength resolution of 2 nm over a wide wavenumber range (500-3100 cm-1). This is despite the microscopic sample size and low Raman scattering efficiency at 1064 nm. Spectra of individual pMDI particles compare well to bulk samples, and the Serevent pMDI delivers the thermodynamically preferred crystal form of salmeterol xinafoate. 1064 nm dispersive Raman microspectroscopy is a promising technique that could see diverse applications for samples where fluorescence-free characterization is required with high spatial resolution.

Binding studies of guggulsterone-E to calf thymus DNA by multi-spectroscopic, calorimetric and molecular docking studies.

Guggulsterone, a sterol found in plants is used as an ayurvedic medicine for many diseases such as obesity, internal tumors, ulcers etc. E and Z are two isoforms of guggulsterone, wherein guggulsterone-E (GUGE) has also been shown to have anticancer potential. Most of the anticancer drugs target nucleic acids. Therefore, we studied the mode of interaction between ctDNA and GUGE using UV-Vis, fluorescence and CD spectroscopy, isothermal calorimetry along with molecular docking studies. Hoechst 3325, ethidium bromide and rhodamine-B displacement experiments confirms that GUGE binds in the minor groove of DNA. ITC results further suggest these interactions to be feasible and spontaneous with hydrogen bond formation and van der waals interactions. Lastly, molecular docking also suggests GUGE to be a minor groove binder interacting through a single hydrogen bond formation between OH group of GUGE and nitrogen (N3) of adenosine (A6).

Evaluation of guggulsterone derivatives as novel kidney cell protective agents against cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity.

Guggulsterone derivatives were prepared using [3+2] click chemistry with aryl and alkyl acetylene. The series of derivatives were evaluated for their cellular protective effects on cisplatin-treated cultured LLC-PK1 kidney epithelial cells. Among the guggulsterone-triazole derivatives, compound 6g, which contains a hydroxyl methyl group, was the most active of all the derivatives. In an additional study, we determined that inhibition of the mitogen-activated protein kinase/caspase-3 signaling cascade by 6g mediates its protective effects against cytotoxicity in cultured LLC-PK1 cells.

Measurement of the Raman spectra and hygroscopicity of four pharmaceutical aerosols as they travel from pressurised metered dose inhalers (pMDI) to a model lung.

Particle inhalation is an effective and rapid delivery method for a variety of pharmaceuticals, particularly bronchodilation drugs used for treating asthma and COPD. Conditions of relative humidity and temperature inside the lungs are generally very different from the outside ambient air, with the lung typically being warmer and more humid. Changes in humidity, from inhaler to lung, can cause hygroscopic phase transitions and particle growth. Increasing particle size and mass can negatively affect particle deposition within the lung leading to inefficient treatment, while deliquescence prior to impaction is liable to accelerate drug uptake. To better understand the hygroscopic properties of four pharmaceutical aerosol particles; pharmaceutical particles from four commercially available pressurised metered dose inhalers (pMDIs) were stably captured in an optical trap, and their composition was examined online via Raman spectroscopy. Micron-sized particles of salbutamol sulfate, salmeterol xinafoate, fluticasone propionate and ciclesonide were levitated and examined over a range of relative humidity values inside a chamber designed to mimic conditions within the respiratory tract. The effect of temperature upon hygroscopicity was also investigated for salbutamol sulfate particles. Salbutamol sulfate was found to have significant hygroscopicity, salmeterol xinafoate showed some hygroscopic interactions, whilst fluticasone propionate and ciclesonide revealed no observable hygroscopicity. Thermodynamic and structural modelling is used to explain the observed experimental results.

Isolation and structural characterization of novel photolytic degradation impurities of Deflazacort using Q-TOF, 2D-NMR and FTIR.

Forced Degradation of Deflazacort drug substance in ultraviolet light condition resulted into a number of significant degradation products. Two of these degradation products were found to be unknown during the study and marked as DD-I and DD-II. Thus, the objective of this work is to investigate and identify these two novel degradation products of DFZ. The isolation method for these new degradation products were developed using a new reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). DD-I and DD-II, eluting at 0.53 and 1.57 relative retention times with respect to Deflazacort (DFZ) peak respectively, were isolated from reaction mass using preparative HPLC and their structures were elucidated using high resolution MS, multidimensional NMR and FTIR spectroscopic techniques. To best of our knowledge, these two degradation products are novel impurities which are not discussed in any form of publication yet.

Guggulsterone and Its Role in Chronic Diseases.

Guggulsterone is a plant sterol derived from gum resin of Commiphora wightii. The gum resin from guggul plants has been used for thousand years in Ayurveda to treat various disorders, including internal tumors, obesity, liver disorders, malignant sores and ulcers, urinary complaints, intestinal worms, leucoderma, sinuses, edema, and sudden paralytic seizures. Guggulsterone has been identified a bioactive components of this gum resin. This plant steroid has been reported to work as an antagonist of certain nuclear receptors, especially farnesoid X receptor, which regulates bile acids and cholesterol metabolism. Guggulsterone also mediates gene expression through the regulation of transcription factors, including nuclear factor-kappa B and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3, which plays important roles in the development of inflammation and tumorigenesis. Guggulsterone has been shown to downregulate the expression of proteins involved in anti-apoptotic, cell survival, cell proliferation, angiogenic, metastatic, and chemoresistant activities in tumor cells. This review aimed to clarify the cell signal pathways targeted by guggulsterone and the bioactivities of guggulsterone in animal models and humans.

New Anti-Inflammatory Metabolites by Microbial Transformation of Medrysone.

Microbial transformation of the anti-inflammatory steroid medrysone (1) was carried out for the first time with the filamentous fungi Cunninghamella blakesleeana (ATCC 8688a), Neurospora crassa (ATCC 18419), and Rhizopus stolonifer (TSY 0471). The objective was to evaluate the anti-inflammatory potential of the substrate (1) and its metabolites. This yielded seven new metabolites, 14α-hydroxy-6α-methylpregn-4-ene-3,11,20-trione (2), 6ß-hydroxy-6α-methylpregn-4-ene-3,11,20-trione (3), 15ß-hydroxy-6α-methylpregn-4-ene-3,11,20-trione (4), 6ß,17α-dihydroxy-6α-methylpregn-4-ene-3,11,20-trione (5), 6ß,20S-dihydroxy-6α-methylpregn-4-ene-3,11-dione (6), 11ß,16ß-dihydroxy-6α-methylpregn-4-ene-3,11-dione (7), and 15ß,20R-dihydroxy-6α-methylpregn-4-ene-3,11-dione (8). Single-crystal X-ray diffraction technique unambiguously established the structures of the metabolites 2, 4, 6, and 8. Fungal transformation of 1 yielded oxidation at the C-6ß, -11ß, -14α, -15ß, -16ß positions. Various cellular anti-inflammatory assays, including inhibition of phagocyte oxidative burst, T-cell proliferation, and cytokine were performed. Among all the tested compounds, metabolite 6 (IC50 = 30.3 µg/mL) moderately inhibited the reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced from zymosan-induced human whole blood cells. Compounds 1, 4, 5, 7, and 8 strongly inhibited the proliferation of T-cells with IC50 values between <0.2-10.4 µg/mL. Compound 7 was found to be the most potent inhibitor (IC50 < 0.2 µg/mL), whereas compounds 2, 3, and 6 showed moderate levels of inhibition (IC50 = 14.6-20.0 µg/mL). Compounds 1, and 7 also inhibited the production of pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-α. All these compounds were found to be non-toxic to 3T3 cells (mouse fibroblast), and also showed no activity when tested against HeLa (human epithelial carcinoma), or against PC3 (prostate cancer) cancer cell lines.

Total (1)H NMR assignment of 3ß-acetoxypregna-5,16-dien-20-one.

This work describes the total and unambiguous assignment of the 750 MHz (1)H NMR spectrum of 3ß-acetoxypregna-5,16-dien-20-one or 16-DPA (1), the well-known intermediate utilized in the synthesis of biological important commercial steroids. The task was accomplished by extracting the coupling constant values in the overlapped spectrum region by HSQC, and using these values in the (1)H iterative full spin analysis integrated in the PERCH NMR software. Comparison of the experimental vicinal coupling constants of 1 with the values calculated using Altona provides an excellent correlation. The same procedure, when applied to the published data of progesterone (2) and testosterone (3), afforded an acceptable correlation for 2 and a poor correlation for 3. In the last case, this suggested the reassignment of all four vicinal coupling constants for the methylene signals at the C-15 and C-16 positions, demonstrating the utility of this methodology.

Influence of small amorphous amounts in hydrophilic and hydrophobic APIs on storage stability of dry powder inhalation products.

The effects of different manufacturing methods to induce formation of amorphous content, changes of physico-chemical characteristics of powder blends and changes of aerodynamic properties over storage time (6months) analyzed with the Next Generation Impactor (NGI) are investigated. Earlier studies have shown that standard pharmaceutical operations lead to structural disorders which may influence drug delivery and product stability. In this investigation, fully amorphous drug samples produced by spray-drying (SD) and ball-milling (BM) as well as semi-crystalline samples (produced by blending and micronization) are studied and compared to fully crystalline starting material. The amorphous content of these hydrophilic and hydrophobic active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) was determined using a validated one-step DVS-method. For the conducted blending and micronization tests, amorphous amounts up to a maximum of 5.1% for salbutamol sulfate (SBS) and 17.0% for ciclesonide (CS) were measured. In order to investigate the impact of small amorphous amounts, inhalable homogenous powder mixtures with very high and low amorphous content and a defined particle size were prepared with a Turbula blender for each API. These blends were stored (6months, 45% RH, room temperature) to evaluate the influence of amorphous amounts on storage stability. The fine particle fraction (FPF: % of emitted dose<5µm) was determined with the NGI at defined time points. The amorphous amounts showed a major effect on dispersion behavior, the mixtures of the two APIs showed differences at the beginning of the study and significant differences in storage stability. The FPF values for SBS decreased during storage (FPF: from 35% to <27%) for the blend with high amorphous amounts, in contrast the initially re-crystallized sample achieved a comparable constant level of about 25%. For the hydrophobic CS a constantly increasing FPF (from 6% to >15%) over storage time for both types of blends was determined. Therefore, prolonged stability of amorphous parts and an incalculable behavior for CS blends are supposed, in contrast, SBS showed a controllable FPF after conditioning.

Measurement of low amounts of amorphous content in hydrophobic active pharmaceutical ingredients with dynamic organic vapor sorption.

Today, a variety of devices for dry powder inhalers (DPIs) is available and many different formulations for optimized deposition in the lung are developed. However, during the production of powder inhalers, processing steps may induce changes to both, the carrier and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). It is well known that standard pharmaceutical operations may lead to structural changes, crystal defects and amorphous regions. Especially operations such as milling, blending and even sieving generate these effects. These disorders may induce re-crystallization and particle size changes post-production which have a huge influence on drug delivery and product stability. In this study, pilot tests with a polar solvent (water) and hydrophilic drug (Salbutamol sulfate) were performed to receive a first impression on further possible implementation of hydrophobic samples with organic solvents. Thereafter, a reliable method for the accurate detection of low amounts of amorphous content is described up to a limit of quantification (LOQ) of 0.5% for a hydrophobic model API (Ciclesonide). The organic vapor sorption method which is a gravimetric method quantifies exactly these low amounts of amorphous content in the hydrophobic powder once the suitable solvent (isopropanol), the correct p/p0 value (0.1) and the exact temperature (25°C) have been found. Afterward it was possible to quantitate low amorphous amounts in jet-milled powders (0.5-17.0%). In summary, the data of the study led to a clearer understanding in what quantity amorphous parts were generated in single production steps and how variable these parts behave to fully crystalline material. Nevertheless it showed how difficult it was to re-crystallize hydrophobic material with water vapor over a short period. For the individual samples it was possible to determine the single humidity at which the material starts to re-crystallize, the behavior against different nonpolar solvents and the calculation of the reduction of the glass transition temperature (Tg) according to the Gordon-Taylor equation.

Simultaneous Estimation of Withaferin A and Z-Guggulsterone in Marketed Formulation by RP-HPLC.

A simple, rapid, precise and accurate high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was developed for simultaneous estimation of withaferin A and Z-guggulsterone in a polyherbal formulation containing Withania somnifera and Commiphora wightii. The chromatographic separation was achieved on a Purosphere RP-18 column (particle size 5 µm) with a mobile phase consisting of Solvent A (acetonitrile) and Solvent B (water) with the following gradients: 0-7 min, 50% A in B; 7-9 min, 50-80% A in B; 9-20 min, 80% A in B at a flow rate of 1 mL/min and detection at 235 nm. The marker compounds were well separated on the chromatogram within 20 min. The results obtained indicate accuracy and reliability of the developed simultaneous HPLC method for the quantification of withaferin A and Z-guggulsterone. The proposed method was found to be reproducible, specific, precise and accurate for simultaneous estimation of these marker compounds in a combined dosage form. The HPLC method was appropriate and the two markers are well resolved, enabling efficient quantitative analysis of withaferin A and Z-guggulsterone. The method can be successively used for quantitative analysis of these two marker constituents in combination of marketed polyherbal formulation.

Preparation and characterization of polymorphs of the glucocorticoid deflazacort.

The polymorphism of new and old active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) is of great importance due to performance, stability and processability aspects. The objective of this study was to investigate the polymorphism of deflazacort (DEF), a glucocorticoid discovered >40 years ago, since this phenomenon has not been previously investigated for this API. Using different methods for solid form screening, it was determined for the first time that DEF is able to exist as three forms: a crystalline (DEF-1); a hydrated X-ray amorphous (DEF-t-bw) and an anhydrous amorphous phase (DEF-g) obtained from manually grinding DEF-1. The in vitro and in vivo dissolution rates (DRs) of DEF-1 and DEF-t-bw, which were measured using the rotating disk method in water at 37 °C and the pellet implantation technique in rats, respectively, indicated that DEF-t-bw exhibited slightly faster in vitro and in vivo DRs than those of the crystalline form, but the values were not significantly different. In addition, it was determined that DEF-t-bw devitrifies to DEF-1 by the effect of pressure, humidity and heat. It was concluded that DEF is glucorticoid with low tendency to exhibit different crystalline forms and that DEF-t-bw has no advantages over DEF-1 in terms of solubility, DRs and solid-state stability.