Published papers

© 2020 Elsevier Ltd In the present study, we newly synthesized three types of novel fullerene derivatives: pyridinium-type derivatives trans-3a and 4a-5b, piperidinium-type derivative 9, and proline-type derivatives 10a-12. Among the assessed compounds, 5a, 10e, 10f, 10i, 11a-d, and 12 were found to inhibit both HIV reverse transcriptase and HIV protease (HIV-PR), with IC50 values in the low micromolar range being observed. Regarding HIV-PR inhibition activity, proline-type derivatives 11a-11d and 12, bearing an alkyl chain between the hydroxylmethylcarbonyl (HMC) moiety and pyrrolidine ring, were more potent than other derivatives. This result might indicate that connecting HMC moieties with proline-type fullerene derivatives through properly sized alkyl chain leads to improved HIV-PR inhibitory activity.

© Diclofenac (DCF) is widely used as a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug; however, it is associated with severe liver injury. This adverse reaction is thought to be related to the reactive quinone imine (QI) and acyl glucuronide (AG) metabolites of DCF, but it remains controversial which reactive metabolites mainly contribute to DCF-induced toxicity. In this study, we synthesized five types of DCF analogs that were designed to mitigate the formation of reactive QI and/or AG metabolites and evaluated their metabolic stability, cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibitory activity, and toxicity to cryopreserved human hepatocytes. Compounds with fluorine at the 5- A nd 4-positions of aromatic rings exhibited modest and high metabolic stability to oxidation by cytochrome P450, respectively, but induced cytotoxicity comparable to DCF. Replacing the carboxylic group of DCF with its bioisosteres was effective in terms of stability to oxidative metabolism and glucuronidation; however, sulfonic acid and sulfonamide groups were not preferable for COX inhibition, and tetrazole-containing analogs induced strong cytotoxicity. On the other hand, compounds that have fluorine at the benzylic position were resistant to glucuronidation and showed little toxicity to hepatocytes. In addition, among these compounds, those with hydrogen at the 4-position (2a and 2c) selectively inhibited the COX-2 enzyme. Throughout these data, it was suggested that compounds 2a and 2c might be novel safer and more efficacious drug candidates instead of DCF.

Nevirapine (NVP) is widely used as a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor of HIV-1, however, it is associated with severe skin and liver injury. The mechanisms of these adverse reactions are not yet clear, but the metabolic activation of NVP is thought to be related to the injury process. Until now, several metabolic activation pathways of NVP have been reported. In this study, in order to identify the reactive metabolite of NVP mainly responsible for CYP inhibition and liver injury, we synthesized five NVP analogs designed to avoid the proposed bioactivation pathway and evaluated their metabolic stabilities, CYP3A4 time-dependent inhibitory activities, and cytotoxicity. As a result, only a pyrimidine analog of NVP, which could avoid the formation of a reactive epoxide intermediate, did not inhibit CYP3A4. Outside of this compound, the other synthesized compounds, which could avoid the generation of a reactive quinone-methide intermediate, inhibited CYP3A4 equal to or stronger than NVP. The pyrimidine analog of NVP did not induce cytotoxicity in HepG2 and transchromosomic HepG2 cells, expressing major four CYP enzymes and CYP oxidoreductase. These results indicated that the epoxide intermediate of NVP might play an important role in NVP-induced liver injury.