Salts and Polymorph Screens for Bedaquiline.

Bedaquiline is used to treat multi-resistant tuberculosis in adults. The fumarate salt is commercially available and used in the product Sirturo. To provide open access to bedaquiline molecule once the patent on the chemical substance expires, new salts were screened. This work offers additional information on the bedaquiline system, as new salts may present better pharmacokinetic properties. The current studies focus on the attempted isolation of the acetate, benzoate, benzenesulfonate, hydrobromide, succinate, hydrochloride, tartrate, lactate, maleate, malate, and mesylate salts of bedaquiline. Potential salts were screened using a unique combination of conventional screening, and small-scale experiments supplemented by crystallographic analysis and infrared microspectroscopy. Salts were prepared on a larger scale by dissolving 1:1 ratios of the individual salt formers and bedaquiline base (30 mg, 0.055 mmol) in different solvents and allowing the solutions to evaporate or crystallize. X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques and spectroscopic and thermal analyses were employed to characterize the salts. The benzoate and maleate salts were selected as lead candidates after reviewing preliminary characterization data. To determine the most stable forms for the leads, a polymorph screen was conducted using solvents of various polarities. These salt screens successfully generated five new salts of bedaquiline, namely, benzoate, maleate, hydrochloride, besylate, and mesylate. The existence of these salts was confirmed by powder XRD, proton NMR, and IR spectroscopies. TGA and DSC thermal analysis along with hot-stage optical microscopy were further used to characterize the salts. The polymorph screen conducted on the salts suggested the absence of additional polymorphs at 1 g scale.

Maleate salts of bedaquiline.

Bedaquiline is one of two important new drugs for the treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB). It is marketed in the US as its fumarate salt, but only a few salts of bedaquiline have been structurally described so far. We present here five crystal structures of bedaquilinium maleate {systematic name: [4-(6-bromo-2-meth-oxy-quinolin-3-yl)-3-hy-droxy-3-(naphthalen-1-yl)-4-phenyl-but-yl]di-methyl-aza-nium 3-carb-oxy-prop-2-enoate}, C32H32BrN2O2 +·C4H3O4 -, namely, a hemihydrate, a tetra-hydro-furan (THF) solvate, a mixed acetone/hexane solvate, an ethyl acetate solvate, and a solvate-free structure obtained from the acetone/hexane solvate by in situ single-crystal-to-single-crystal desolvation. All salts exhibit a 1:1 cation-to-anion ratio, with the anion present as monoanionic hydro-maleate and a singly protonated bedaquilinium cation. The maleate exhibits the strong intra-molecular hydrogen bond typical for cis-di-carb-oxy-lic acid anions. The conformations of the cations and packing inter-actions in the maleate salts are compared to those of free base bedaquiline and other bedaquilinium salts.

Crystal structures of salts of bedaquiline.

Bedaquiline [systematic name: 1-(6-bromo-2-methoxyquinolin-3-yl)-4-(dimethylamino)-2-(naphthalen-1-yl)-1-phenylbutan-2-ol, C32H31BrN2O2] is one of two important new drugs for the treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB). It is marketed in the US as its fumarate salt {systematic name: [4-(6-bromo-2-methoxyquinolin-3-yl)-3-hydroxy-3-(naphthalen-1-yl)-4-phenylbutyl]dimethylazanium 3-carboxyprop-2-enoate, C32H32BrN2O2+·C4H3O4-}, and about a dozen other salts of bedaquiline have been described in patent literature, but none have so far been structurally described. In a first communication, we present the crystal structure of bedaquilinium fumarate and of two new benzoate salts, as well as that of a degradation product of the reaction of bedaquilinium fumarate with sodium ethoxide, 3-benzyl-6-bromo-2-methoxyquinoline, C17H14BrNO. The fumarate and benzoate salts both feature cations monoprotonated at the dimethylamino group. The much less basic quinoline N atom remains unprotonated. Both salts feature a 1:1 cation-to-anion ratio, with the fumarate being present as monoanionic hydrofumarate. The conformations of the cations are compared to that of free base bedaquiline and with each other. The flexible backbone of the bedaquiline structure leads to a landscape of conformations with little commonalities between the bedaquiline entities in the various structures. The conformations are distinctively different for the two independent molecules of the free base, the two independent molecules of the hydrofumarate salt, and the one unique cation of the benzoate salt. Packing of the salts is dominated by hydrogen bonding. Hydrogen-bonding motifs, as well as the larger hydrogen-bonded entities within the salts, are quite similar for the salts, despite the vastly differing conformations of the cations, and both the hydrofumarate and the benzoate structure feature chains of hydrogen-bonded anions that are surrounded by and hydrogen bonded to the larger bedaquilinium cations, leading to infinite broad ribbons of anions, cations, and (for the benzoate salt) water molecules. The benzoate salt was isolated in two forms: as a 1.17-hydrate (C32H32BrN2O2+·C7H5O2-·1.166H2O), obtained from acetone or propanol solution, with one fully occupied water molecule tightly integrated into the hydrogen-bonding network of anions and cations, and one partially occupied water molecule [refined occupancy 16.6 (7)%], only loosely hydrogen bonded to the quinoline N atom. The second form is an acetonitrile solvate (C32H32BrN2O2+·C7H5O2-·0.742CH3CN·H2O), in which the partially occupied water molecule is replaced by a 74.2 (7)%-occupied acetonitrile molecule. The partial occupancy induces disorder for the benzoate phenyl ring. The acetonitrile solvate is unstable in atmosphere and converts into a form not distinguishable by powder XRD from the 1.17-hydrate.

Capsaicin treatment differentially affects feeding suppression by bombesin-like peptides.

Peripheral administration of bombesin (BN) and the related mammalian peptides, gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) and neuromedin B (NMB), suppress food intake in rats. To examine whether all BN-like peptides utilize the same neural pathways to reduce feeding, rats were treated on postnatal day 2 with the injection vehicle or capsaicin, a neurotoxin that damages a subset of visceral afferent fibers. When rats reached adulthood, we compared the ability of a dose range of systemically administered BN, GRP18-27 and NMB to reduce intake of a 0.5 kcal/ml glucose solution in a short-term feeding test. Our results demonstrate that capsaicin treatment abolished or attenuated the suppression of glucose intake produced by BN and NMB but had no effect on the ability of GRP to reduce feeding. These results suggest that different neural substrates underlie the anorexic effects of peripherally administered BN-like peptides.

Discovery of (1R,5S)-N-[3-amino-1-(cyclobutylmethyl)-2,3-dioxopropyl]- 3-[2(S)-[[[(1,1-dimethylethyl)amino]carbonyl]amino]-3,3-dimethyl-1-oxobutyl]- 6,6-dimethyl-3-azabicyclo[3.1.0]hexan-2(S)-carboxamide (SCH 503034), a selective, potent, orally bioavailable hepatitis C virus NS3 protease inhibitor: a potential therapeutic agent for the treatment of hepatitis C infection.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is the major cause of chronic liver disease, leading to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, which affects more than 170 million people worldwide. Currently the only therapeutic regimens are subcutaneous interferon-alpha or polyethylene glycol (PEG)-interferon-alpha alone or in combination with oral ribavirin. Although combination therapy is reasonably successful with the majority of genotypes, its efficacy against the predominant genotype (genotype 1) is moderate at best, with only about 40% of the patients showing sustained virological response. Herein, the SAR leading to the discovery of 70 (SCH 503034), a novel, potent, selective, orally bioavailable NS3 protease inhibitor that has been advanced to clinical trials in human beings for the treatment of hepatitis C viral infections is described. X-ray structure of inhibitor 70 complexed with the NS3 protease and biological data are also discussed.

The effects of piracetam on cognitive performance in a mouse model of Down's syndrome.

Piracetam is a nootropic agent that has been shown to improve cognitive performance in a number of animal model systems. Piracetam is reported to be used widely as a means of improving cognitive function in children with Down's syndrome (DS). In order to provide a preclinical assessment of the potential efficacy of piracetam, we examined the effects of a dose range of piracetam in the Ts65Dn mouse model of DS. Ts65Dn mice are trisomic for a region of mouse chromosome 16 with homology to human chromosome 21. Daily piracetam treatment at doses of 0, 75, 150, and 300 mg/kg ip was initiated in 6-week-old male Ts65Dn and euploid control mice. Following 4 weeks of treatment, mice were tested in the visible and hidden-platform components of the Morris water maze and were placed overnight in computerized activity chambers to assess effects on overall activity. Piracetam treatment was continued through the 4 weeks of testing. In control mice, 75 and 150 mg/kg/day piracetam improved performance in both the visible- and hidden-platform tasks. Although low doses of piracetam reduced search time in the visible-platform component in Ts65Dn mice, all piracetam doses prevented trial-related improvements in performance in Ts65Dn mice. The 300-mg/kg/day-piracetam dose was associated with a reversal of the nocturnal spontaneous hyperactivity in Ts65Dn. These data do not provide support for piracetam treatment for individuals with DS.

Intracerebroventricular C75 decreases meal frequency and reduces AgRP gene expression in rats.

3-Carboxy-4-alkyl-2-methylenebutyrolactone (C75), an inhibitor of fatty acid synthase and stimulator of carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1, reduces food intake and body weight in rodents when given systemically or centrally. Intracellular molecular mechanisms involving changes in cellular energy status are proposed to initiate the feeding and body weight reductions. However, effectors that lie downstream of these initial steps are not yet fully identified. Present experiments characterize the time courses of hypophagia and weight loss after single injections of C75 into the lateral cerebroventicle in rats and go on to identify specific meal pattern changes and coinciding alterations in gene expression for feeding-related hypothalamic neuropeptides. C75 reduced chow intake and body weight dose dependently. Although the principal effects occurred on the first day, weight losses relative to vehicle control were maintained over multiple days. C75 did not affect generalized locomotor activity. C75 began to reduce feeding after a 6-h delay. The hypophagia was due primarily to decreased meal number during 6-12 h without a significant effect on meal size, suggesting that central C75 reduced the drive to initiate meals. C75 prevented the anticipated hypophagia-induced increases in mRNA for AgRP in the arcuate nucleus at 22 h and at 6 h when C75 begins to suppress feeding. Overall, the data suggest that gene expression changes leading to altered melanocortin signaling are important for the hypophagic response to intracerebroventricular C75.

Peptide YY(3-36) inhibits gastric emptying and produces acute reductions in food intake in rhesus monkeys.

Peptide YY3-36 [PYY(3-36)], a gastrointestinal peptide that is released into the circulation in response to ingesting a meal, has recently been suggested to play a role in controlling food intake. PYY(3-36) has been reported to inhibit food intake following peripheral administration in rodents and in human subjects. To more fully characterize the potential feeding actions of PYY(3-36), we examined the ability of a dose range of PYY(3-36) (0.3-3.0 nmol/kg) to affect liquid gastric emptying and daily 6-h food intake in male rhesus monkeys. Intramuscular PYY(3-36) produced a dose-related inhibition of saline gastric emptying that was maximal at a dose of 3 nmol/kg. Intramuscular PYY(3-36) administered before daily 6-h food access produced significant feeding reductions at doses of 1 and 3 nmol/kg. Analyses of the patterns of food intake across the 6-h period of food access revealed that PYY(3-36) increased the latency to the first meal and reduced average meal size without altering meal number. Although single doses of PYY(3-36) reduced intake, a suppressive effect on food intake was not sustained over multiple administrations across successive days. Together, these data suggest that PYY(3-36) has the ability to reduce food intake in acute test situations in nonhuman primates. Whether this is a physiological action of the endogenous peptide remains to be determined.