Efficient approach to acyloxymethyl esters of nalidixic acid and in vitro evaluation as intra-ocular prodrugs

Synthetic Approaches, Properties, and Applications of Acylals in Preparative and Medicinal Chemistry

Diesters of geminal diols (R-CH(O-CO-R')2, RR'C(OCOR″)2, etc. with R = H, aryl or alkyl) are termed acylals according to IUPAC recommendations (Rule P-65.6.3.6 Acylals) if the acids involved are carboxylic acids. Similar condensation products can be obtained from various other acidic structures as well, but these related "non-classical acylals", as one might call them, differ in various aspects from classical acylals and will not be discussed in this article. Carboxylic acid diesters of geminal diols play a prominent role in organic chemistry, not only in their application as protective groups for aldehydes and ketones but also as precursors in the total synthesis of natural compounds and in a variety of organic reactions. What is more, acylals are useful as a key structural motif in clinically validated prodrug approaches. In this review, we summarise the syntheses and chemical properties of such classical acylals and show what potentially under-explored possibilities exist in the field of drug design, especially prodrugs, and classify this functional group in medicinal chemistry.

An Infection-Responsive Approach To Reduce Bacterial Adhesion in Urinary Biomaterials

Infection is an inevitable consequence of chronic urinary catheterization with associated problems of recurrent catheter encrustation and blockage experienced by approximately 50% of all long-term catheterized patients. In this work, we have exploited, for the first time, the reported pathogen-induced elevation of urine pH as a trigger for "intelligent" antimicrobial release from novel hydrogel drug delivery systems of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate and vinyl-functionalized nalidixic acid derivatives, developed as candidate infection-resistant urinary catheter coatings. Demonstrating up to 20-fold faster rates of drug release at pH 10, representing infected urine pH, than at pH 7 and achieving reductions of up to 96.5% in in vitro bacterial adherence, our paradigm of pH-responsive drug delivery, which requires no external manipulation, therefore represents a promising development toward the prevention of catheter-associated urinary tract infections in vivo.

Biological conversion of aripiprazole lauroxil - An N-acyloxymethyl aripiprazole prodrug

N-acyloxyalkylation of NH-acidic compounds can be a prodrug approach for e.g. tertiary or some N-heterocyclic amines and secondary amides and have the potential to modify the properties of the parent drug for specific uses, for example its physicochemical, pharmacokinetic or biopharmaceutical properties. Aripiprazole lauroxil was prepared as a model compound for such prodrugs and its bioconversion was investigated both in vitro and in vivo. Theoretically, N-acyloxyalkyl derivates of NH-acid compounds undergo a two-step bioconversion into the parent NH-acidic drug through an N-hydroxyalkyl intermediate. However, to our knowledge no published studies have investigated the formation of an intermediate in vivo. In the present study, it was demonstrated that the assumed N-hydroxymethyl intermediate was readily observed both in vitro and in vivo. In vivo, the observed plasma concentration of the intermediate was at the same level as the drug (aripiprazole). When prodrug intermediates are formed, it is important to make a proper pharmacological, pharmacokinetic and toxicological evaluation of the intermediates to ensure patient safety; however, several challenges were identified when testing an N-acyloxyalkyl prodrug. These included the development of a suitable bioanalytical method, the accurate prediction of prodrug bioconversion and thereby the related pharmacokinetics in humans and the toxicological potential of the intermediate.

Novel lipophilic 7H-pyrido[1,2,3-de]-1,4-benzoxazine-6-carboxylic acid derivatives as potential antitumor agents: improved synthesis and in vitro evaluation

A convenient route for the synthesis of some acyloxymethyl esters and carboxamides of levofloxacin (LV) with modulated lipophilicity is described. The synthesized compounds were evaluated in vitro for their growth inhibitory effect in five human cancer cell lines. The most efficient LV derivatives (ester 2e and amide 4d) displayed IC(50) values in the 0.2-2.2 μM range, while IC(50) values for parent LV ranged between 70 and 622 μM depending on the cell line. The esters displayed no in vivo toxicity up to 80 mg/kg when administered intraperitoneally. This study thus shows that LV analogs displayed antitumor efficacy, at least in vitro, a feature that appeared to be independent from the lipophilicity of the grafted substituent.

Lipophilicity of novel antitumour and analgesic active 8-aryl-2,6,7,8-tetrahydroimidazo[2,1-c][1,2,4]triazine-3,4-dione derivatives determined by reversed-phase HPLC and computational methods

Eight novel antitumour and analgesic active 8-aryl-2,6,7,8-tetrahydroimidazo[2,1-c][1,2,4]triazine-3,4-diones (1-8) have been obtained as a bioactive set of substances and their lipophilicity has been studied. The logk values of fifteen reference compounds and eight newly synthesised imidazotriazine-3,4-dione derivatives were determined by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) using mixtures of methanol and water as mobile phases with different methanol concentrations. The relationships between logk values of a set of reference compounds (fifteen compounds) and investigated ones (eight compounds) and concentration of methanol was used for determination of the logkwater values by extrapolation. The partition coefficients (logP) values for reference compounds measured experimentally were taken from the literature. The calibration equation was then obtained for the standards of known lipophilicity (logPHPLC) and logkwater. In next step the partition coefficients of new synthesised solutes were calculated from the calibration equation. For the comparison purpose, additionally the partition coefficients (logPcalc.) of the examined imidazotriazine-3,4-diones were calculated by means of the Pallas 3.1.1.2. software. It was found that logkwater values as a lipophilicity measure of derivatives correlate well with partition coefficients measured experimentally (logPHPLC). Correlation between the logPHPLC and the logarithm of partition coefficient calculated by Pallas software (logPcalc.) is not so satisfactory as that for values determined experimentally. Furthermore, it has been found that the lipophilicity variation of investigated imidazotriazine-3,4-diones (1-8) correlates well with their acute toxicity expressed as log(1/LD50). The drug-likeness of all the bioactive 8-aryl-2,6,7,8-tetrahydroimidazo[2,1-c][1,2,4]triazine-3,4-diones was assessed on the basis of their structural properties by applying Lipniski's rule of five. The solutes have all four parameters important for the favourable pharmacokinetics in the human body that would make them likely orally active drugs in humans.

Targeting antibacterial agents by using drug-carrying filamentous bacteriophages

Bacteriophages have been used for more than a century for (unconventional) therapy of bacterial infections, for half a century as tools in genetic research, for 2 decades as tools for discovery of specific target-binding proteins, and for nearly a decade as tools for vaccination or as gene delivery vehicles. Here we present a novel application of filamentous bacteriophages (phages) as targeted drug carriers for the eradication of (pathogenic) bacteria. The phages are genetically modified to display a targeting moiety on their surface and are used to deliver a large payload of a cytotoxic drug to the target bacteria. The drug is linked to the phages by means of chemical conjugation through a labile linker subject to controlled release. In the conjugated state, the drug is in fact a prodrug devoid of cytotoxic activity and is activated following its dissociation from the phage at the target site in a temporally and spatially controlled manner. Our model target was Staphylococcus aureus, and the model drug was the antibiotic chloramphenicol. We demonstrated the potential of using filamentous phages as universal drug carriers for targetable cells involved in disease. Our approach replaces the selectivity of the drug itself with target selectivity borne by the targeting moiety, which may allow the reintroduction of nonspecific drugs that have thus far been excluded from antibacterial use (because of toxicity or low selectivity). Reintroduction of such drugs into the arsenal of useful tools may help to combat emerging bacterial antibiotic resistance.