Inhibitors of monoamine oxidase. II. Syntheses of some N-2(9)-substituted tetrahydro-beta-carbolines and evaluation of their inhibitory activities

Synthesis and Investigation of Tetrahydro-β-carboline Derivatives as Inhibitors of Plant Pathogenic Fungi

A series of tetrahydro-ß-carbolines substituted with an alkyl or acyl side chain was synthesized and screened for its antifungal activity against plant pathogenic fungi (Bipolaris oryzae, Curvularia lunata, Fusarium semitectum, and Fusarium fujikuroi). The structure activity relationship revealed that the substituent at the piperidine nitrogen plays an important role for increasing antifungal activities. In this series, 2-octyl-2,3,4,9-tetrahydro-1H-pyrido[3,4-b]indole (3g) displayed potent antifungal activities with a minimum inhibitory concentration of 0.1 μg/mL, including good inhibitory activity to the radial growth of fungus at a concentration of 100 μg/mL compared to amphotericin B.

[Indoles. 9. 4-Arylated tetrahydro-beta-carbolines--synthesis and first pharmacologic data]

Two different routes lead to the 4-arylated tetrahydro-beta-carbolines 5, 11, 12. One includes Pictet-Spengler cyclization of tryptamines 9, the other follows our "lactone-route", starting with 1 via 2-4. In a first pharmacological screening some target compounds show significant affinity at the 5-HT2-receptor but no or only low affinity to other binding sites.

Ethanol increases single unit activity in the inferior olivary nucleus

Single unit recording of rat inferior olivary nucleus neurons reveals significantly elevated discharge after acute intraperitoneal injection of 2 g/kg ethanol. This effect is consistent across 3 different methods of anesthesia and immobilization: local Xylocaine plus intraperitoneal D-tubocurare, intraperitoneal chloral hydrate and halothane vapor. In contrast, under urethane anesthesia acute ethanol produces significant depression of olivary discharge. Since this effect is opposite to that found under the other anesthetic conditions (including topical Xylocaine only), urethane anesthesia may compromise generalizations of electrophysiologic studies of ethanol. Neurons of the inferior olivary nucleus excite cerebellar Purkinje cells through a powerful afferent circuit; our data therefore suggest that ethanol-induced increases in cerebellar Purkinje cell complex (climbing fiber burst) spikes, obtained in our previous studies, are secondary to olivary activation.

beta-Carbolines as selective monoamine oxidase inhibitors: in vivo implications

The inhibitory action of a range of beta-carbolines on human and rat monoamine oxidase (MAO) A and B has been studied. Concentrations of 5-hydroxytryptamine and phenylethylamine, approximately at their Km values, were used as substrates for MAO A and B respectively. A wide variation in selectivity was found, with harmaline being 10,000 times more potent an inhibitor of A than B whereas, using tetrahydro-beta-carboline and harmane, the difference was nearer to ten-fold. Of the carbolines which have been found endogenously, tetrahydro-beta-carboline, 6-methoxytetrahydro-beta-carboline and harmane are all sufficiently potent inhibitors of human MAO A, with I50 values of 5 X 10(-6), 10(-6), 5 X 10(-7) M respectively, for this property to be of possible physiological significance. Harmane, with an I50 of 5 X 10(-6) M, might also play a role as an inhibitor of MAO B.

Monoamine oxidase inhibition by beta-carbolines: a quantum chemical approach

Monoamine oxidase inhibition by beta-carboline derivatives is related to the energy change, delta E, arising from complex formation between the inhibitor and the enzyme. The energy change was expressed in terms of electronic indexes, which were estimated for a set of aromatic beta-carbolines. The electronic indexes were correlated to the experimental activity indexes by a simplified quantum chemical perturbational treatment with a multiple regression procedure. A characteristic structure for the inhibitor-enzyme complex was derived from the correlation. The molecules are linked by two kinds of bond. One involves the lone pyridine nitrogen pair of beta-carbolines; the other is due to a pi-electronic interaction between the inhibitor indole fragment and a suitable area of the enzyme. Such a model explains the competitive inhibition by beta-carbolines compared to tryptamine and other aromatic amines that are monoamine oxidase substrates.

Conditions for the formation of cyclic compounds between pyridoxal phosphate and 5-hydroxytryptamine or 5-hydroxytryptophan

5-Hydroxytryptamine (5HT) and 5-hydroxytryptophan (5HTP) form cyclic compounds (probably of the tetrahydro-beta-carboline type) with pyridoxal phosphate (PLP). In the first step of reaction a Schiff's base is formed; during incubation it is transformed into a cyclic compound with a maximum absorption spectrum at 330 nm. The degree of cyclization depends on pH and substrate concentrations. One mole of 5HT or 5HTP reacts with one mole of coenzyme. The velocity of cyclization increased with an excess of either 5HT (5HTP) or PLP, without any change in the mole to mole ratio. The formation of cyclic compounds was confirmed by the use of isotopes, separation from substrates being achieved by high-voltage electrophoresis.

Spectrofluorometric determination of substituted tetrahydrocarbazoles by a methylene blue sensitized photolytic reaction

A spectrofluorometric method was developed for the determination of 6-chloro-9-[2-(2-methyl-5-pyridyl)ethyl]-1,2,3,4-tetrahydrocarbazole-2-methanol hydrochloride and its carboxylic acid analog in blood and urine. It involves extraction of both compounds at neutral pH, either from blood into ethyl acetate (the residue of which is dissolved in either) or from urine directly into ether. Both the alcohol and the acid are separated from each other by selective extraction into acid or base, respectively, and then reextracted into either from the respective aqueous medium by appropriate pH adjustment. The residues of the ether extracts containing the compounds are dissolved separately in 0.25 N NH4OH. Methylene blue is added to all samples, which are then exposed to UV energy for 15 min to produce the fluorophores. The fluorescence of the solutions is read at 370 nm, with excitation at 340 nm. The linear range of quantitation of both compounds is 0.02-10 mug/each/ml of final solution. The method was applied to the determination of blood levels and urinary excretion of the alcohol and its acid metabolite in a dog.

Identification of alkaloids; the condensation products of biogenic amines with formaldehyde, enzymatically formed from 5-methyltetrahydrofolic acid

The use of thin-layer chromatography has demonstrated that incubations of indoleamines with 5-methyl[14-C]tetrahydrofolic acid and an enzyme previously described as an N-methyltransferase, do not yield Nw, N1, or O-methylated products. Further elucidation by thin-layer chromatography, gas chromatography, mass spectrometry and selected ion monitoring enabled us to identify the reaction products as tetrahydroisoquinolines and tetrahydro-beta-carbolines in mixtures incubated respectively with catecholamines and indoleamines in the presence of 5-methyl[14-C]tetrahydrofolic acid and enzyme. The alkaloids have been shown to originate from a spontaneous condensation of the corresponding amines with formaldehyde, this latter being formed in the first stage of the reaction by enzymatic conversion from 5-methyltetrahydrofolic acid.