Vortioxetine Derivatives with Amino Acid as Promoiety: Synthesis, Activity, Stability and Preliminary Pharmacokinetic Study

An Overview of Degradation Strategies for Amitriptyline

Antidepressant drugs play a crucial role in the treatment of mental health disorders, but their efficacy and safety can be compromised by drug degradation. Recent reports point to several drugs found in concentrations ranging from the limit of detection (LOD) to hundreds of ng/L in wastewater plants around the globe; hence, antidepressants can be considered emerging pollutants with potential consequences for human health and wellbeing. Understanding and implementing effective degradation strategies are essential not only to ensure the stability and potency of these medications but also for their safe disposal in line with current environment remediation goals. This review provides an overview of degradation pathways for amitriptyline, a typical tricyclic antidepressant drug, by exploring chemical routes such as oxidation, hydrolysis, and photodegradation. Connex issues such as stability-enhancing approaches through formulation and packaging considerations, regulatory guidelines, and quality control measures are also briefly noted. Specific case studies of amitriptyline degradation pathways forecast the future perspectives and challenges in this field, helping researchers and pharmaceutical manufacturers to provide guidelines for the most effective degradation pathways employed for minimal environmental impact.

Design, synthesis and docking study of Vortioxetine derivatives as a SARS-CoV-2 main protease inhibitor

Purpose

Vortioxetine an anti-depressant FDA-drug recently reported showing better in vitro efficacy against SARS-CoV-2.

Methods

In this study, we have synthesized ten new derivatives having alkenes, alkynes, benzyl, aryl, and mixed carbamate at the N-terminal of vortioxetine. Then the binding energy and interactions with the crucial amino acid residues in the binding pocket of main protease (M^pro) of SARS-CoV-2, of reported and ten newly synthesized vortioxetine derivatives (total thirty-one) in comparison with remdesivir are analyzed and presented in this paper.

Results

Based on the docking scores predicted by ADV and AD, most vortioxetine derivatives showed better binding efficiency towards M^pro of SARS-CoV-2 in comparison with remdesivir (an EUA approved drug against SARS-CoV-2 M^pro) and vortioxetine.

Conclusion

This study shows that some vortioxetine derivatives can be developed into promising drugs for COVID-19 treatment.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40199-022-00441-z.