Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of 2-Nitroimidazopyrazin-one/-es with Antitubercular and Antiparasitic Activity

J Med Chem. 2018 Dec 27;61(24):11349-11371. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.8b01578. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Abstract

Tuberculosis and parasitic diseases, such as giardiasis, amebiasis, leishmaniasis, and trypanosomiasis, all urgently require improved treatment options. Recently, it has been shown that antitubercular bicyclic nitroimidazoles such as pretomanid and delamanid have potential as repurposed therapeutics for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis. Here, we show that pretomanid also possesses potent activity against Giardia lamblia and Entamoeba histolytica, thus expanding the therapeutic potential of nitroimidazooxazines. Synthetic analogues with a novel nitroimidazopyrazin-one/-e bicyclic nitroimidazole chemotype were designed and synthesized, and structure-activity relationships were generated. Selected derivatives had potent antiparasitic and antitubercular activity while maintaining drug-like properties such as low cytotoxicity, good metabolic stability in liver microsomes and high apparent permeability across Caco-2 cells. The kinetic solubility of the new bicyclic derivatives varied and was found to be a key parameter for future optimization. Taken together, these results suggest that promising subclasses of bicyclic nitroimidazoles containing different core architectures have potential for further development.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antiparasitic Agents / chemical synthesis
  • Antiparasitic Agents / chemistry*
  • Antiparasitic Agents / pharmacology*
  • Antitubercular Agents / chemical synthesis
  • Antitubercular Agents / chemistry*
  • Antitubercular Agents / pharmacology*
  • Caco-2 Cells
  • Drug Design
  • Drug Evaluation, Preclinical / methods
  • Drug Stability
  • Entamoeba histolytica / drug effects
  • Giardia lamblia / drug effects
  • Humans
  • Mice
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests
  • Microsomes, Liver / drug effects
  • Nitroimidazoles / pharmacology
  • Structure-Activity Relationship

Substances

  • Antiparasitic Agents
  • Antitubercular Agents
  • Nitroimidazoles
  • pretomanid