Synthesis, biological evaluation, and computational studies of N-benzyl pyridinium-curcumin derivatives as potent AChE inhibitors with antioxidant activity.

A library of N-benzylpyridinium-based compounds, 7a-j and 8a-j, was designed and synthesised as potential acetylcholinesterase) AChE (inhibitors. An in vitro assay for the synthesised compounds showed that most compounds had significant AChE inhibitory activities at the nanomolar and submicromolar levels. The benzyl (8a) and fluoro (8b) derivatives were the most active, with IC50 values ≤56 nM. Compound 7f, which had a benzyl moiety, showed the highest potency among all the target compounds, with an IC50 value of 7.5 ± 0.19 nM against AChE, which was higher than that of the activities of tacrine (IC50 = 30 ± 0.2 nM) and donepezil (IC50 = 14 ± 0.12 nM). Compounds with vanillin moieties exhibited antioxidant activity. Among the tested compounds, four derivatives (7f, 7 g, 8f, and 8 g) exhibited superior AChE inhibitory activity, with Ki values of 6-16 nM, which were potent in the same range as the approved drug, donepezil. These compounds showed moderate antioxidant activities, as indicated by the results of the ABTS assay.

On the use of the experimentally determined enzyme inhibition constant as a measure of absolute binding affinity.

Defined as a state function representing an inhibitor's absolute affinity for its target enzyme, the experimentally determined enzyme inhibition constant (Ki) is widely used to rank order binding affinities of different inhibitors for a common enzyme or different enzymes for a common inhibitor and to benchmark computational approaches to predicting binding affinity. Herein, we report that adsorption of bis(7)-tacrine to the glass container surface increased its Ki against Electrophorus electricus acetylcholinesterase (eeAChE) to 3.2 ± 0.1 nM (n = 5) compared to 2.9 ± 0.4 pM (n = 5) that was determined using plastic containers with other assay conditions kept the same. We also report that, due to binding or "adsorption" of bis(7)-tacrine to the inactive eeAChE, the bis(7)-tacrine Ki increased from 2.9 ± 0.4 pM (n = 5) to 734 ± 70 pM (n = 5) as the specific eeAChE activity decreased from 342 U/mg to 26 U/mg while other assay conditions were kept the same. These results caution against using Kis to rank order binding potencies, define selectivity, or benchmark computational methods without knowing detailed assay conditions.

The dual-acting AChE inhibitor and H3 receptor antagonist UW-MD-72 reverses amnesia induced by scopolamine or dizocilpine in passive avoidance paradigm in rats.

Both the acetylcholine esterase (AChE) and the histamine H3 receptor (H3R) are involved in the metabolism and modulation of acetylcholine release and numerous other centrally acting neurotransmitters. Hence, dual-active AChE inhibitors (AChEIs) and H3R antagonists hold potential to treat cognitive disorders like Alzheimer's disease (AD). The novel dual-acting AChEI and H3R antagonist 7-(3-(piperidin-1-yl)propoxy)-2,3-dihydropyrrolo[2,1-b]quinazolin-9(1H)-one (UW-MD-72) shows excellent selectivity profiles over the AChE's isoenzyme butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) as well as high and balanced in-vitro affinities at both AChE and hH3R with IC50 of 5.4µM on hAChE and hH3R antagonism with Ki of 2.54µM, respectively. In the current study, the effects of UW-MD-72 (1.25, 2.5, and 5mg/kg, i.p.) on memory deficits induced by the muscarinic cholinergic antagonist scopolamine (SCO) and the non-competitive N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) antagonist dizocilpine (DIZ) were investigated in a step-through type passive avoidance paradigm in adult male rats applying donepezil (DOZ) and pitolisant (PIT) as reference drugs. The results observed show that SCO (2mg/kg, i.p.) and DIZ (0.1mg/kg, i.p.) significantly impaired learning and memory in rats. However, acute systemic administration of UW-MD-72 significantly ameliorated the SCO- and DIZ-induced amnesic effects. Furthermore, the ameliorating activity of UW-MD-72 (1.25mg/kg, i.p.) in DIZ-induced amnesia was partly reversed when rats were pretreated with the centrally-acting H2R antagonist zolantidine (ZOL, 10mg/kg, i.p.), but not with the CNS penetrant H1R antagonist pyrilamine (PYR, 10mg/kg, i.p.). Moreover, ameliorative effect of UW-MD-72 (1.25mg/kg, i.p.) in DIZ-induced amnesia was strongly reversed when rats were pretreated with a combination of ZOL (10mg/kg, i.p.) and SCO (1.0mg/kg, i.p.), indicating that these memory enhancing effects were, in addition to other neural circuits, observed through histaminergic H2R as well as muscarinic cholinergic neurotransmission. These results demonstrate the ameliorative effects of UW-MD-72 in two in-vivo memory models and provide evidence for the potential of dual-acting AChEI and H3R antagonists to treat cognitive disorders.

Preparation of Chito-Oligomers by Hydrolysis of Chitosan in the Presence of Zeolite as Adsorbent.

An increasing interest has recently been shown to use chitin/chitosan oligomers (chito-oligomers) in medicine and food fields because they are not only water-soluble, nontoxic, and biocompatible materials, but they also exhibit numerous biological properties, including antibacterial, antifungal, and antitumor activities, as well as immuno-enhancing effects on animals. Conventional depolymerization methods of chitosan to chito-oligomers are either chemical by acid-hydrolysis under harsh conditions or by enzymatic degradation. In this work, hydrolysis of chitosan to chito-oligomers has been achieved by applying adsorption-separation technique using diluted HCl in the presence of different types of zeolite as adsorbents. The chito-oligomers were retrieved from adsorbents and characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), liquid chromatography/mass spectroscopy (LC/MS), and ninhydrin test.

The dual-acting H3 receptor antagonist and AChE inhibitor UW-MD-71 dose-dependently enhances memory retrieval and reverses dizocilpine-induced memory impairment in rats.

Both the histamine H3 receptor (H3R) and acetylcholine esterase (AChE) are involved in the regulation of release and metabolism of acetylcholine and several other central neurotransmitters. Therefore, dual-active H3R antagonists and AChE inhibitors (AChEIs) have shown in several studies to hold promise to treat cognitive disorders like Alzheimer's disease (AD). The novel dual-acting H3R antagonist and AChEI 7-(3-(piperidin-1-yl)propoxy)-1,2,3,9-tetrahydropyrrolo[2,1-b]quinazoline (UW-MD-71) with excellent selectivity profiles over both the three other HRs as well as the AChE's isoenzyme butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) shows high and balanced in vitro affinities at both H3R and AChE with IC50 of 33.9nM and hH3R antagonism with Ki of 76.2nM, respectively. In the present study, the effects of UW-MD-71 (1.25-5mg/kg, i.p.) on acquisition, consolidation, and retrieval in a one-trial inhibitory avoidance task in male rats were investigated applying donepezil (DOZ) and pitolisant (PIT) as reference drugs. Furthermore, the effects of UW-MD-71 on memory deficits induced by the non-competitive N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) antagonist dizocilpine (DIZ) were tested. Our results indicate that administration of UW-MD-71 before the test session dose-dependently increased performance and enhanced procognitive effect on retrieval. However neither pre- nor post-training acute systemic administration of UW-MD-71 facilitated acquisition or consolidation. More importantly, UW-MD-71 (2.5mg/kg, i.p.) ameliorated the DIZ-induced amnesic effects. Furthermore, the procognitive activity of UW-MD-71 in retrieval was completely reversed and partly abrogated in DIZ-induced amnesia when rats were pretreated with the centrally-acting H2R antagonist zolantidine (ZOL), but not with the CNS penetrant H1R antagonist pyrilamine (PYR). These results demonstrate the procognitive effects of UW-MD-71 in two in vivo memory models, and are to our knowledge the first demonstration in vivo that a potent dual-acting H3R antagonist and AChEI is effective in improving retrieval processes in the one-trial inhibitory avoidance task and provide evidence to such compounds to treat cognitive disorders.

Chitin and chitosan as direct compression excipients in pharmaceutical applications.

Despite the numerous uses of chitin and chitosan as new functional materials of high potential in various fields, they are still behind several directly compressible excipients already dominating pharmaceutical applications. There are, however, new attempts to exploit chitin and chitosan in co-processing techniques that provide a product with potential to act as a direct compression (DC) excipient. This review outlines the compression properties of chitin and chitosan in the context of DC pharmaceutical applications.

Cyclic acyl guanidines bearing carbamate moieties allow potent and dirigible cholinesterase inhibition of either acetyl- or butyrylcholinesterase.

A series of cyclic acyl guanidine with carbamate moieties have been synthesized and evaluated in vitro for their AChE and BChE inhibitory activities. Structure-activity relationships identified compound 23 as a nanomolar and selective BChE inhibitor, while compound 32 exhibited nanomolar and selective AChE inhibition, selectivity depending on both the structure of the carbamate substituent as well as the position of guanidines-N substitution. The velocity of enzyme carbamoylation was analyzed and showed similar behavior to physostigmine. Phenolic compounds formed after carbamate transfer to the active site of cholinesterases showed additional neuroprotective properties on a hippocampal neuronal cell line (HT-22) after glutamate-induced intracellular reactive oxygen species generation.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of bivalent cannabinoid receptor ligands based on hCB2R selective benzimidazoles reveal unexpected intrinsic properties.

The design of bivalent ligands targeting G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) often leads to the development of new, highly selective and potent compounds. To date, no bivalent ligands for the human cannabinoid receptor type 2 (hCB2R) of the endocannabinoid system (ECS) are described. Therefore, two sets of homobivalent ligands containing as parent structure the hCB2R selective agonist 13a and coupled at different attachment positions were synthesized. Changes of the parent structure at these positions have a crucial effect on the potency and efficacy of the ligands. However, we discovered that bivalency has an influence on the effect at both cannabinoid receptors. Moreover, we found out that the spacer length and the attachment position altered the efficacy of the bivalent ligands at the receptors by turning agonists into antagonists and inverse agonists.

Amine substitution of quinazolinones leads to selective nanomolar AChE inhibitors with 'inverted' binding mode.

Selective and nanomolar acetylcholinesterase inhibitors were obtained by connecting tri- and tetracyclic quinazolinones-previously described as moderately active and unselective cholinesterase (ChE) inhibitors-via a hydroxyl group in para position to an anilinic nitrogen with different amines linked via a three carbon atom spacer. These tri- and tetracyclic quinazolinones containing different alicyclic ring sizes and connected to tertiary amines were docked to a high-resolution hAChE crystal structure to investigate the preferred binding mode in relation to results obtained by experimental structure-activity relationships. While the 'classical orientation' locating the heterocycle in the active site was rarely found, an alternative binding mode with the basic aliphatic amine in the active center ('inverted' orientation) was obtained for most compounds. Analyses of extended SARs based on this inverted binding mode are able to explain the compounds' binding affinities at AChE.

Identification of a neuroprotective and selective butyrylcholinesterase inhibitor derived from the natural alkaloid evodiamine.

Two sets of carbamates based on the natural alkaloid evodiamine were designed, synthesized and evaluated as potential butyrylcholinesterase inhibitors. Although a set of carbamates of 3-hydroxyevodiamine (10a-f) is inactive both at AChE and BChE, carbamates of 5-deoxo-3-hydroxyevodiamine (11a-f) exhibit much better potency with selectivity toward BChE. The heptyl carbamate of 5-deoxo-3-hydroxyevodiamine (11c) shows the best potency with an IC50 value of 77 nM and very good selectivity over AChE. ORAC and cell-based assays indicate 11c owns pronounced antioxidant properties with 1.75 Trolox equivalents and strong neuroprotection even from 1 µM onwards. These combined activities might enable compound 11c to be a potential candidate for treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

Synthesis, biological evaluation, and computational studies of Tri- and tetracyclic nitrogen-bridgehead compounds as potent dual-acting AChE inhibitors and hH3 receptor antagonists.

Combination of AChE inhibiting and histamine H3 receptor antagonizing properties in a single molecule might show synergistic effects to improve cognitive deficits in Alzheimer's disease, since both pharmacological actions are able to enhance cholinergic neurotransmission in the cortex. However, whereas AChE inhibitors prevent hydrolysis of acetylcholine also peripherally, histamine H3 antagonists will raise acetylcholine levels mostly in the brain due to predominant occurrence of the receptor in the central nervous system. In this work, we designed and synthesized two novel classes of tri- and tetracyclic nitrogen-bridgehead compounds acting as dual AChE inhibitors and histamine H3 antagonists by combining the nitrogen-bridgehead moiety of novel AChE inhibitors with a second N-basic fragment based on the piperidinylpropoxy pharmacophore with different spacer lengths. Intensive structure-activity relationships (SARs) with regard to both biological targets led to compound 41 which showed balanced affinities as hAChE inhibitor with IC50 = 33.9 nM, and hH3R antagonism with Ki = 76.2 nM with greater than 200-fold selectivity over the other histamine receptor subtypes. Molecular docking studies were performed to explain the potent AChE inhibition of the target compounds and molecular dynamics studies to explain high affinity at the hH3R.

Neuroprotective Tri- and Tetracyclic BChE Inhibitors Releasing Reversible Inhibitors upon Carbamate Transfer.

Tri- and tetracyclic nitrogen-bridgehead compounds were designed and synthesized to yield micromolar cholinesterase (ChE) inhibitors. Structure-activity relationships identified potent compounds with butyrylcholinesterase selectivity. These compounds were selected as starting points for the design and synthesis of carbamate-based (pseudo)irreversible inhibitors. Compounds with superior inhibitory activity and selectivity were obtained and kinetically characterized also with regard to the velocity of enzyme carbamoylation. Structural elements were identified and introduced that additionally showed neuroprotective properties on a hippocampal neuronal cell line (HT-22) after glutamate-induced intracellular reactive oxygen species generation. We have identified potent and selective pseudoirreversible butyrylcholinesterase inhibitors that release reversible inhibitors with neuroprotective properties after carbamate transfer to the active site of cholinesterases.