Enzyme-assisted synthesis and structure characterization of glucuronic acid conjugates of losartan, candesartan, and zolarsartan

Entropy Similarity-Driven Transformation Reaction Molecular Networking Reveals Transformation Pathways and Potential Risks of Emerging Contaminants in Wastewater: The Example of Sartans

The transformation pathways and risks of emerging contaminants (ECs) in wastewater remain unclear due to the limited throughput of nontarget screening. In this study, an improved method called entropy similarity-driven transformation reaction molecular networking (ESTRMN) was developed to identify transformation products (TPs) in wastewater. In detail, entropy similarity was the most effective algorithm for identifying parent-product spectrum pairs and a threshold of 0.5 for it was determined with the guarantee of high specificity. Additionally, a TP structure database predicted according to known structures and reactions was established to assist in identification. Sartan is one of the most commonly used angiotensin II receptor blocker antihypertensive drugs. Take sartans as an example, 69 TPs of sartans with confidence levels above 3 were identified by ESTRMN, 43 of which were newly discovered. The most common reactions included hydroxylation, hydrolysis, and oxidation, resulting in the majority of sartan TPs exhibiting higher persistence, mobility, and toxicity (PMT) than their parents. The concentration of 75% sartans and TPs increased after treatment in a WWTP, and the overall risk has not been effectively mitigated. This study emphasizes the role of ESTRMN in incorporating TPs of ECs into environmental monitoring protocols and risk assessment frameworks for wastewater management.

Candesartan Has No Clinically Meaningful Effect on the Plasma Concentrations of Cytochrome P450 2C8 Substrate Repaglinide in Humans

In vitro evidence shows that the acyl-β-D-glucuronide metabolite of candesartan inhibits cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2C8 with an inhibition constant of 7.12 μM. We investigated the effect of candesartan on the plasma concentrations and glucose-lowering effect of repaglinide, a sensitive clinical CYP2C8 index substrate. In a randomized crossover study, ten healthy volunteers ingested 8 mg of candesartan or placebo daily for three days, and on day 3, they also ingested 0.25 mg of repaglinide one hour after candesartan or placebo. We measured the plasma concentrations of repaglinide, candesartan, and candesartan acyl-β-D-glucuronide, and blood glucose concentrations for up to nine hours after repaglinide intake. Candesartan had no effect on the area under the plasma concentration-time curve and peak plasma concentration of repaglinide compared with placebo, with ratios of geometric means of 1.02 [P = 0.809; 90% confidence interval (CI) 0.90-1.15] and 1.13 (P = 0.346; 90% CI 0.90-1.43), respectively. Other pharmacokinetic variables and blood glucose concentrations were neither affected. Candesartan acyl-β-D-glucuronide was detectable in seven subjects, in whom the peak concentration of repaglinide was 1.32-fold higher in the candesartan phase than in the placebo phase (P = 0.041; 90% CI 1.07-1.62). Systemic concentrations of candesartan acyl-β-D-glucuronide were very low compared with its CYP2C8 inhibition constant (ratio ≪ 0.1). Furthermore, in a cohort of 93 cancer patients, no indication of decreased paclitaxel clearance was found in four patients using candesartan concomitantly. In conclusion, candesartan therapy is unlikely to inhibit CYP2C8-mediated metabolism of other drugs to any clinically significant extent. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: The findings of this study suggest that candesartan is unlikely to cause drug-drug interactions via inhibition of cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2C8. Although candesartan acyl-β-D-glucuronide has been shown to inhibit CYP2C8 in vitro, it shows no clinically relevant CYP2C8 inhibition in humans due to low systemic concentrations.

A Novel and Efficient Nano Alumina Based Cu (II) Catalyst for Three- Component Synthesis of 5-Substituted-1H-Tetrazoles

:

Tetrazoles as one of the most important synthetic heterocyclic compounds have so many applications in organic chemistry, the photographic industry, coordination chemistry, explosives and in particular, medicinal chemistry. Numerous methods have been reported in the literature for synthesis of tetrazoles, but much of them have some drawbacks including the use of strong Lewis acids or expensive and toxic metals and employment of acidic media. Azides may react with acids to yield toxic and flammable HN3 gas. Furthermore, many methods used high polar solvents such as DMF at high temperatures and very tedious work-up. Heterogeneous catalysts are preferred because of owing to easy handling, safety, recoverability and reusability. Catalyst separation and recycling is highly desirable because catalysts are often very expensive. On the other hand, in spite of higher reactivity and selectivity of homogeneous catalysts, the difficulty of separating them from the reaction medium can lead to the problem of reusing the catalyst. Also, most homogeneous catalysts are thermally unstable. To benefit advantages of both types of catalysts, one solution is using nanoparticles. Their higher surface area is the advantages of nanoparticles, which allows them to enhance the reaction rate. Many commercially important catalysts include active nanoparticles spread on high area oxide supports. Such catalysts are highly complex materials that are optimized to work for plenty of turnovers at high reaction rates and with high selectivity. Aldehyde (1 mmol), hydroxylamine hydrochloride (0.10 mg, 1.5 mmol), sodium azide (0.10 g, 1.5 mmol), distilled water (5 mL) and nano Al2O3@PCH-Cu (II) (0.01g, 1.04% mol) were added to round bottom flask (25 mL) and stirred at room temperature. After the completion of the reaction, water (10 mL) was added into reaction mixture and filtered. Excess sodium azide and hydroxylamine hydrochloride are dissolved in water and the catalyst remains on the filter. Extraction of product with diethyl ether (3×10 mL) and then evaporation of ether afforded the product. The product was recrystallized using hot ethanol to obtain pure product. We synthesized a novel, stable, highly reactive and efficient nano-sized heterogeneous catalyst (nano Al2O3@PCH-Cu (II)). We characterized it by FT-IR, ICP, SEM, TGA and EDX analysis. This catalyst was used for the efficient one-pot three-component synthesis of 5-substituted-1H-tetrazoles. An one-pot three-component synthesis of 5-substituted-1Htetrazoles is conducted, a reaction between various benzaldehydes, hydroxyl amine hydrochloride and sodium azide in the presence of a novel and highly efficient nano alumina supported poly(carboxylic acid hydrazide) Cu(II) complex, nano Al2O3@PCH-Cu(II), as heterogeneous catalyst in H2O at room temperature. This method has very mild reaction conditions as well as the advantages of easy separation and reusability of the catalyst, very short reaction times, high yields and using H2O as green solvent. Furthermore, using this method very high TON and TOF values obtained for all isolated products.

Human Enzymes for Organic Synthesis

Human enzymes have been widely studied in various disciplines. The number of reactions taking place in the human body is vast, and so is the number of potential catalysts for synthesis. Herein, we focus on the application of human enzymes that catalyze chemical reactions in course of the metabolism of drugs and xenobiotics. Some of these reactions have been explored on the preparative scale. The major field of application of human enzymes is currently drug development, where they are applied for the synthesis of drug metabolites.

Rapid regio- and multi-coupling reactivity of 2,3-dibromobenzofurans with atom-economic triarylbismuths under palladium catalysis

A regio- and chemoselective cross-coupling study using 2,3-dibromobenzofurans and 2,3,5-tribromobenzofuran was achieved with sub-stoichiometric loadings of triarylbismuths as atom-economic reagents under Pd-catalyzed conditions. As part of this study, various 2,3-diaryl- and 2,3,5-triarylbenzofuran products were obtained in high yields, involving one-pot operations and short reaction times.

Glucuronidation of a sarpogrelate active metabolite is mediated by UDP-glucuronosyltransferases 1A4, 1A9, and 2B4

Sarpogrelate is a selective serotonin 5-HT2A-receptor antagonist used to treat patients with peripheral arterial disease. This drug is rapidly hydrolyzed to its main metabolite (R,S)-1-[2-[2-(3-methoxyphenyl)ethyl]phenoxy]-3-(dimethylamino)-2-propanol (M-1), which is mainly excreted as a glucuronide conjugate. Sarpogrelate was also directly glucuronidated to an O-acyl glucuronide and a N-glucuronide by UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs) in human liver microsomes (HLMs). Since M-1 is pharmacologically more active than sarpogrelate, we examined glucuronidation of this metabolite in HLMs and characterized the UGTs responsible for M-1 glucuronidation. Diastereomers of O-glucuronide (SMG1 and SMG3) and a N-glucuronide (SMG2) were identified by incubation of M-1 with HLMs in the presence of uridine 5'-diphosphoglucuronic acid (UDPGA), and their structures were confirmed by nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry analyses. Two O-glucuronides were identified as chiral isomers: SMG1 as R-isomer and SMG3 as S-isomer. Using recombinant UGT enzymes, we determined that SMG1 and SMG3 were predominantly catalyzed by UGT1A9 and UGT2B4, respectively, whereas SMG2 was generated by UGT1A4. In addition, significant correlations were noted between the SMG1 formation rate and propofol glucuronidation (a marker reaction of UGT1A9; r = 0.6269, P < 0.0031), and between the SMG2 formation rate and trifluoperazine glucuronidation (a marker reaction of UGT1A4; r = 0.6623, P < 0.0015) in a panel of HLMs. Inhibition of SMG1, SMG2, and SMG3 formation by niflumic acid, hecogenin, and fluconazole further substantiated the involvement of UGT1A9, UGT1A4, and UGT2B4, respectively. These findings collectively indicate that UGT1A4, UGT1A9, and UGT2B4 are the major UGT isoforms responsible for glucuronidation of M-1, an active metabolite of sarpogrelate.

Enzyme-assisted synthesis of the glucuronide conjugate of psilocin, an hallucinogenic component of magic mushrooms

An enzyme-assisted synthesis of psilocin glucuronide (PCG), a metabolite excreted in the urine of magic mushroom (MM) users, is described. In the presence of Aroclor 1254 pretreated rat liver microsomes, psilocin and the cofactor UDPGA were incubated for 20 h. Purification by HPLC gave PCG in 19% yield (3.6 mg). The compound structure was characterized by MS and NMR. The milligram amounts of PCG produced by this method will allow the direct identification and quantification of PCG in the urine of MM users.

Enzymatic synthesis of uracil glucuronide, labeling with 125/131I, and in vitro evaluation on adenocarcinoma cells

Human UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs) are a family of membrane-bound enzymes of the endoplasmic reticulum. They catalyze the glucuronidation of various endogenous and exogenous compounds, converting them into more polar glucuronides. In this study, uracil glucuronide was enzymatically synthesized using a UGT-rich microsome preparate, which was separated from Hutu-80 cells. Two different glucuronide derivatives were obtained, with a total reaction yield of 22.95% +/- 2.4% (n = 4). The glucuronide ligands were defined as uracil-n-glucuronide (UNG) and uracil-o-glucuronide (UOG). These were then analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and labeled with I-125 and I-131, separately. The radiolabeled (125/131)I-UNG and (125/131)I-UOG presented good incorporation ratios for Hutu-80, Caco-2, Detroit 562, and ACBRI 519 cells. The incorporation ratios of (125/131)I-UOG were higher than those of (125/131)I-UNG and of other labeled components for all cell types, and were also statistically significant compared to the values of (125/131)I-UNG for primary human intestinal epithelial cells (ACBRI 519) and human intestinal adenocarcinoma cells. Cell incorporation rates of n-glucuronides and o-glucuronides were higher compared to uracil, with o-glucuronides being more selective. The results suggest that both I-125- and I-131-labeled glucuronides can be used in imaging and therapy, and further research should be done in preclinical stages.