Phenoxypropoxybiguanides, prodrugs of DHFR-inhibiting diaminotriazine antimalarials.

A total of 34 analogues of the biguanide PS-15 (5s), a prodrug of the diaminotriazine WR-99210 (8s), have been prepared. Several of them, such as 5b (PS-33) and 5m (PS-26), maintain or exceed the in vivo activity of PS-15 while not requiring the use of highly regulated starting materials. The putative diaminotriazine metabolites of these new analogues (compounds 8) have also been prepared and shown to maintain the activity against resistant P. falciparum strains. The structure-activity relationships of biguanides 5 and putative metabolites 8 are discussed.

The antimalarial triazine WR99210 and the prodrug PS-15: folate reversal of in vitro activity against Plasmodium falciparum and a non-antifolate mode of action of the prodrug.

We have studied the reversal of activity against Plasmodium falciparum of WR99210, a triazine antimalarial drug, and of the pro-drug PS-15 by folic acid (FA) and folinic acid (FNA). Folic acid and FNA inhibit the growth of P. falciparum in vitro at concentrations > 10(-4.5) and 10(-3.5) mol/L, respectively. The activity of pyrimethamine against Kenyan strains M24 and K39 is reduced 10-12-fold by 10(-5) mol/L of FA, and virtually eliminated by 10(-5) mol/L of FNA. Folates do not antagonise the action of WR99210 against Kenyan strains, and only partially antagonize the action of WR99210 action against the Southeast Asian strains V1/S and W282. Similarly, FA and FNA exerted weak or no antagonism of the action of PS-15. The inability of folates to antagonize the action of WR99210 can be explained in terms of high drug-enzyme affinity, but this does not account for the inability of FA and FNA to antagonize PS-15. These results suggest that action of PS-15 against P. falciparum is primarily due to a non-folate mechanism.

Methaemoglobin formation due to nitrite, disulfiram, 4-aminophenol and monoacetyldapsone hydroxylamine in diabetic and non-diabetic human erythrocytes in vitro.

Nitrite, monoacetyl dapsone hydroxylamine, 4-aminophenol and disulfiram-mediated methaemoglobin formation was studied in human diabetic and non-diabetic erythrocytes in vitro. Diabetic intact erythrocytes were significantly less sensitive compared with those of non-diabetics to haemoglobin oxidation caused by the hydroxylamine, nitrite and 4-aminophenol, but not disulfiram. In haemolysates, differential sensitivity did occur with disulfiram and was partially retained with 4-aminophenol and nitrite. The differences were lost with 4-aminophenol, nitrite and disulfiram in the presence of haemoglobin purified from the respective erythrocyte types. Diethyl maleate reduced methaemoglobin formation in non-diabetic intact erythrocytes with 4-aminophenol, the hydroxylamine and disulfiram, but not with nitrite. Overall, the differential sensitivity to methaemoglobin formation seen in diabetic compared with non-diabetic erythrocytes, is probably linked to differences in the respective cells' cytosolic anti-oxidant systems.

Studies on the differential sensitivity between diabetic and non-diabetic human erythrocytes to monoacetyl dapsone hydroxylamine-mediated methaemoglobin formation in vitro.

Methaemoglobin generation by monoacetyl dapsone hydroxylamine in non-diabetic and diabetic erythrocytes was investigated in vitro. Methaemoglobin formation in purified haemoglobin isolated from both types of erythrocytes as well as haemolysates from both diabetic and non-diabetic erythrocytes did not differ. Prior to 18 h incubation with 10 and 20 mM glucose diabetic erythrocytes were significantly less sensitive to monoacetyl dapsone-induced methaemoglobinaemia. After pre-incubation the differential was lost although significant change in glutathione concentrations could not be shown between the two cell types. NADH-diaphorase levels measured in diabetics and non-diabetics did not significantly differ. It is possible that diabetic cells display reduced hydroxylamine-mediated methaemoglobin generation due to differences in glutathione metabolism.

Reduction of dapsone hydroxylamine to dapsone during methaemoglobin formation in human erythrocytes in vitro. III: Effect of diabetes.

The fate of dapsone hydroxylamine has been investigated in diabetic and normal human erythrocytes. In erythrocytes from four type 1 (insulin dependent) diabetic subjects, there was a significant decrease in dapsone hydroxylamine-mediated methaemoglobin formation compared with cells drawn from normal individuals (P < 0.01). However, the ability of the diabetic cells to detoxify the hydroxylamine to dapsone was not correspondingly reduced and was not different to normal cells. The initial rate of the accelerating effect of diethyl dithiocarbamate (DDC) on hydroxylamine-mediated methaemoglobin and dapsone formation was significantly reduced in diabetic compared with normal cells. There was no significant difference in hydroxylamine-dependent methaemoglobin formation between diabetic erythrocytes pretreated with either statil or sorbinil and untreated diabetic cells. Dapsone recovery in diabetic erythrocytes incubated with statil was not significantly different from statil-free incubations. However, in the presence of sorbinil, there was a marked reduction in dapsone formation at all four time points, (P < 0.001 at 15 min). Mean measured levels of glutathione did not differ significantly between the normal (380 +/- 30.9 mg/L; N = 8) and diabetic (349 +/- 58.7 mg/L; N = 8) volunteers. In summary, although diabetic erythrocytes were less sensitive to the effect of dapsone hydroxylamine-mediated methaemoglobin formation in comparison with normal cells, glutathione-dependent hydroxylamine reduction to dapsone was unaffected.

Reduction of dapsone hydroxylamine to dapsone during methaemoglobin formation in human erythrocytes in vitro. IV: Implications for the development of agranulocytosis.

We have studied the efflux of dapsone hydroxylamine from normal and diabetic erythrocytes by the use of a two-compartment (1 and 2) in vitro dialysis system, in order to model the in vivo blood supply to the bone marrow. When both types of erythrocytes were dialysed against mononuclear leucocytes, the hydroxylamine crossed the membrane and caused significantly greater white cell death compared with dialysis of leucocytes against untreated erythrocytes. However, in the case of both normal and diabetic cells, the presence of the glutathione depletor diethyl maleate (DEM) caused a marked reduction in movement of hydroxylamine from compartment 1 to 2. Diethyl dithiocarbamate (DDC), a methaemoglobin accelerant, caused a marked reduction in movement of hydroxylamine from erythrocytes (diabetic and normal) in compartment 1 to 2 which led to a significant reduction in white cell death compared with the absence of DDC (18.3 +/- 5.5 vs 34.8 +/- 8.1%, P < 0.05). Dapsone recovery from compartment 1 rose significantly in the presence of DDC compared with control in both erythrocyte types. In contrast, recovery of dapsone from normal erythrocytes incubated in compartment 1 was significantly reduced by the presence of DEM compared with control, although there was no difference between control and DEM-treated diabetic cells. Dapsone analysis in compartment 2 revealed a significant increase in dapsone recovery in both diabetic (11.3 +/- 1.1%) and normal (11.9 +/- 1.1%) erythrocytes in the presence of DDC compared with diabetic (3.3 +/- 0.4%) and normal control (4.8 +/- 2.0%, P < 0.001). The presence of DEM in compartment 1 caused a significant fall in dapsone recovery in compartment 2 (3.7 +/- 0.26) compared with control (4.7 +/- 0.36%, P < 0.05). Hence, dapsone hydroxylamine is capable of leeching out of normal and diabetic erythrocytes, traversing a semipermeable membrane and causing toxicity to human mononucleocyte cells in vitro. This process may be one of the first stages in immune-mediated agranulocytosis.

Reduction of dapsone hydroxylamine to dapsone during methaemoglobin formation in human erythrocytes in vitro--II. Movement of dapsone across a semipermeable membrane into erythrocytes and plasma.

We have used an in vitro two-compartment model, to investigate the ability of dapsone, formed by erythrocyte-mediated detoxification of its hydroxylamine metabolite, to escape the cells and cross a semi-permeable membrane into both plasma and other erythrocytes. Both diethyl dithiocarbamate (DDC) treated and untreated erythrocytes were incubated with dapsone hydroxylamine and dialysed against either fresh cells or plasma. Methaemoglobin was predominantly detectable in compartment A although the presence of low levels of methaemoglobin in compartment B indicated that the hydroxylamine itself had crossed the membrane. In contrast to methaemoglobin disposition, recovery of dapsone was higher (P < 0.05) in compartment B compared with A for all three treatment groups at 30 and 60 min, but not at the remaining time points. Regression analysis of the cumulative recovery of dapsone over 150 min in all three treatment groups for both compartments A and B showed correlation coefficients close to unity. In compartment A, analysis of the mean slopes of the regression lines indicated that, overall, significantly more dapsone was recovered from group 1 (erythrocytes, hydroxylamine and DDC dialysed against untreated red cells) compared with group 3 (erythrocytes and hydroxylamine dialysed against plasma) (0.22 +/- 0.05 vs 0.09 +/- 0.005; P < 0.025). Also in compartment A, significantly more dapsone was recovered from group 2 (erythrocytes and hydroxylamine dialysed against untreated red cells) compared with group 3 (erythrocytes and hydroxylamine dialysed against plasma: 0.16 +/- 0.02 vs 0.09 +/- 0.005). In compartment B, dapsone recovery was significantly greater in group 1 (erythrocytes, hydroxylamine and DDC dialysed against untreated red cells; slope of regression line: 0.59 +/- 0.05) compared with group 2 (erythrocytes and hydroxylamine dialysed against untreated red cells; slope of line: 0.28 +/- 0.02, P < 0.005). In addition, dapsone recovery was significantly greater in group 1 (0.59 +/- 0.05) compared with group 3 (erythrocytes and hydroxylamine dialysed against plasma; 0.21 +/- 0.02, P < 0.005). Dialysis of erythrocytes with dapsone itself over 120 min caused no detectable methaemoglobin formation. The process of erythrocyte-mediated dapsone formation from its hydroxylamine may feasibly occur in vivo and contribute to the systemic persistence and therapeutic effect of dapsone.

Anti-Pneumocystis carinii activity of PS-15, a new biguanide folate antagonist.

A newly synthesized biguanide inhibitor of dihydrofolate reductase in Plasmodium species was evaluated for its anti-Pneumocystis carinii activity. The compound N-3-(2,4,5-trichlorophenoxypropyloxy)-N'-(1-methylethyl)imidoca rbonimidic diamide hydrochloride, designated PS-15, was administered prophylactically and therapeutically to immunosuppressed rats latently infected with P. carinii. Doses of 5 and 25 mg of PS-15 per kg of body weight per day given orally during 7 weeks of dexamethasone immunosuppression prevented P. carinii infection in all (100%) 19 rats given the drug, while 6 of 9 (67%) untreated control rats developed P. carinii pneumonitis. A single weekly dose of 50 mg of PS-15 per kg also prevented the infection in all 10 rats. P. carinii pneumonitis was established after 4 weeks of immunosuppression and was then treated orally for 3 weeks with 25, 5, and 1 mg of PS-15 per kg/day. Complete resolution of the infection occurred in all (100%) 10 rats given 25 mg of PS-15, 6 of 9 (67%) rats given 5 mg of PS-15, and 6 of 8 (75%) rats given 1.0 mg of PS-15 per kg per day and in all (100%) 9 rats treated with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. PS-15 was well tolerated at all doses. Because drug studies in the P. carinii rat model have been highly predictable of the effects of drugs on the disease in humans, these experiments suggest that PS-15 may have promise as a drug for the treatment of P. carinii pneumonitis in humans.

PS-15: a potent, orally active antimalarial from a new class of folic acid antagonists.

A new, orally-active inhibitor of dihydrofolic acid reductase (DHFR), PS-15 (N-(3-(2,4,5-trichlorophenoxy)propyloxy)-N'-(1-methylethyl)- imidocarbonimidic diamide hydrochloride), has significant activity against drug-resistant Plasmodium falciparum. It is not cross-resistant with other inhibitors of DHFR (e.g., pyrimethamine and cycloguanil). Although it bears similarities to proguanil, PS-15 represents a new antifolate class of drugs that we have named oxyguanils or hydroxylamine-derived biguanides. This compound displays intrinsic antimalarial activity and also is metabolized in vivo to WR99210, an extremely active triazine inhibitor of DHFR. When tested in vitro against drug-resistant clones of P. falciparum, PS-15 was more active than proguanil, and the putative metabolite, WR99210, was more active than the proguanil metabolite cycloguanil. The drug is also more active as well as less toxic than proguanil when administered orally to mice infected with P. berghei. When administered orally to Aotus monkeys infected with multidrug-resistant P. falciparum, PS-15 was more active than either proguanil or WR99210. In 1973, WR99210 underwent clinical trials for safety and tolerance in volunteers. The trials showed gastrointestinal intolerance and limited bioavailability; further development of the drug was abandoned. Because PS-15 has intrinsic antimalarial activity, is not cross-resistant with other DHFR inhibitors, and can be metabolized to WR99210 in vivo, oral administration of this new drug should circumvent the shortcomings and retain the advantages found with both proguanil and WR99210.

Reduction of dapsone hydroxylamine to dapsone during methaemoglobin formation in human erythrocytes in vitro.

The fate of the toxic metabolite of dapsone, dapsone hydroxylamine, has been studied in the human red cell. Twice-washed red cells were incubated at 37 degrees with dapsone hydroxylamine: at 3 and 5 min, 27.0 +/- 2.2 and 33.2 +/- 2.7% of the haemoglobin had been converted to methaemoglobin, leading to a maximum at 45 min (45 +/- 1.8%). HPLC analysis revealed that parent amine was produced from dapsone hydroxylamine during methaemoglobin formation in the red cells. At 3 min, conversion of dapsone hydroxylamine to dapsone reached 7.0 +/- 3.9% leading to a maximum at 30 min (18.1 +/- 3.7%). There was a linear relationship between hydroxylamine-dependent methaemoglobin formation and conversion of hydroxylamine to dapsone (r = 0.97). At 4 degrees, methaemoglobin and dapsone formation was greatly retarded, and did not exceed 10%. Co-incubation of diethyl dithiocarbamate (DDC) with dapsone hydroxylamine and red cells led to a marked increase in methaemoglobin formation (61.4 +/- 3.4%) compared with hydroxylamine and red cells alone (45.0 +/- 1.8%, P < 0.001) at 45 min, and conversion of dapsone hydroxylamine to dapsone was almost doubled at 45 min (35.7 +/- 5.3%) compared with hydroxylamine and red cells (18.1 +/- 2.5%). A linear relationship between methaemoglobin formation and dapsone formation (r = 0.96) was also shown to occur in the presence of DDC. Incubation of red cells with DDC and dapsone hydroxylamine caused a significantly greater reduction in glutathione levels (98.3 +/- 1.6%) compared with red cells and dapsone hydroxylamine alone (84.8 +/- 2.7%) at 5 min (P < 0.001), although there was no significant difference between the groups at 15 min (96.9 +/- 2.6 vs 98.1 +/- 2.2%). Intra-erythrocytic glutathione was then depleted by 75 +/- 3.4%, by pretreatment with diethyl maleate (6 mM), and these cells in the presence of the hydroxylamine showed a significant fall in both methaemoglobin generation (29.7 +/- 1.2 vs 35.0 +/- 1.7%) and parent amine formation (11.1 +/- 0.2 vs 16.5 +/- 1.1%) compared with untreated red cells at 45 min. It is possible that a cycle exists between hepatic oxidation of dapsone to its hydroxylamine and reduction to the amine within the red cell, which may lead to re-oxidation by hepatic cytochrome P450. This process may contribute to the persistence of the drug in vivo.

Successful treatment and prevention of murine Pneumocystis carinii pneumonitis with 4,4'-sulfonylbisformanilide.

Pneumocystis carinii pneumonitis was prevented in 0, 50, 100, and 100% of immunosuppressed rats given doses of 0.5, 5.0, 25.0, and 125.0 mg/kg (body weight) per day, respectively, of 4,4'-sulfonylbisformanilide (DFD). Therapeutic efficacy was demonstrated with DFD at 25.0 mg/kg per day, and when this dose was combined with trimethoprim, the combination was as effective as trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, which has been proven to be effective in the treatment of murine and human P. carinii pneumonitis.

Synthesis and analgesic activity of 1,3-dihydro-3-(substituted phenyl)imidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-2-ones and 3-(substituted phenyl)-1,2,3-triazolo[4,5-b]pyridines.

In a study of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory and analgesic agents, a series of 1,3-dihydro-3-(substituted phenyl)imidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-2-ones-and 3-(substituted phenyl)triazolo[4,5-b]pyridines was prepared. Many of the imidazolones were alkylated on the free nitrogen. In a modified Randall-Selitto analgesic assay, the pain thresholds of both the inflamed and normal foot were elevated. This is not commonly observed with nonsteroidal antiinflammatory agents. The most active compounds were 1,3-dihydro-3[3,4-(methylenedioxy)phenyl]imidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-2-one (I-15) and its N-allyl (I-21) and N-isopropyl (I-121) derivatives. In the triazole series the 3-(2-fluoro- and 2,4-difluorophenyl)triazolo[4,5-b]pyridines (T-1 and T-8) were the best. The imidazole compounds were somewhat superior in analgesic activity to codeine and d-propoxyphene without showing any narcotic characteristics. Some of the compounds also possessed activity against carrageenan-induced foot edema in the rat, so these compounds represent a new class of nonnarcotic analgesic antiinflammatories, capable of producing a greater degree of analgesia than that obtainable with other nonsteroidal antiinflammatory agents.