Gut microbiome encoded purine and amino acid pathways present prospective biomarkers for predicting metformin therapy efficacy in newly diagnosed T2D patients.

Metformin is widely used for treating type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D). However, the efficacy of metformin monotherapy is highly variable within the human population. Understanding the potential indirect or synergistic effects of metformin on gut microbiota composition and encoded functions could potentially offer new insights into predicting treatment efficacy and designing more personalized treatments in the future. We combined targeted metabolomics and metagenomic profiling of gut microbiomes in newly diagnosed T2D patients before and after metformin therapy to identify potential pre-treatment biomarkers and functional signatures for metformin efficacy and induced changes in metformin therapy responders. Our sequencing data were largely corroborated by our metabolic profiling and identified that pre-treatment enrichment of gut microbial functions encoding purine degradation and glutamate biosynthesis was associated with good therapy response. Furthermore, we identified changes in glutamine-associated amino acid (arginine, ornithine, putrescine) metabolism that characterize differences in metformin efficacy before and after the therapy. Moreover, metformin Responders' microbiota displayed a shifted balance between bacterial lipidA synthesis and degradation as well as alterations in glutamate-dependent metabolism of N-acetyl-galactosamine and its derivatives (e.g. CMP-pseudaminate) which suggest potential modulation of bacterial cell walls and human gut barrier, thus mediating changes in microbiome composition. Together, our data suggest that glutamine and associated amino acid metabolism as well as purine degradation products may potentially condition metformin activity via its multiple effects on microbiome functional composition and therefore serve as important biomarkers for predicting metformin efficacy.

SnAr Reactions of 2,4-Diazidopyrido[3,2-d]pyrimidine and Azide-Tetrazole Equilibrium Studies of the Obtained 5-Substituted Tetrazolo[1,5-a]pyrido[2,3-e]pyrimidines.

A straightforward method for the synthesis of 5-substituted tetrazolo[1,5-a]pyrido[2,3-e]pyrimidines from 2,4-diazidopyrido[3,2-d]pyrimidine in SnAr reactions with N-, O-, and S- nucleophiles has been developed. The various N- and S-substituted products were obtained with yields from 47% to 98%, but the substitution with O-nucleophiles gave lower yields (20-32%). Furthermore, the fused tetrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine derivatives can be regarded as 2-azidopyrimidines and functionalized in copper(I)-catalyzed azide-alkyne dipolar cycloaddition (CuAAC) and Staudinger reactions due to the presence of a sufficient concentration of the reactive azide tautomer in solution. In total, seven products were fully characterized by their single crystal X-ray studies, while five of them were representatives of the tetrazolo[1,5-a]pyrido[2,3-e]pyrimidine heterocyclic system. Equilibrium constants and thermodynamic values were determined using variable temperature 1H NMR and are in agreement of favoring the tetrazole tautomeric form (ΔG298 = -3.33 to -7.52 (kJ/mol), ΔH = -19.92 to -48.02 (kJ/mol) and ΔS = -43.74 to -143.27 (J/mol·K)). The key starting material 2,4-diazidopyrido[3,2-d]pyrimidine presents a high degree of tautomerization in different solvents.