Type 2 diabetes is a polygenic disease which afflicts nearly 200 million people worldwide and is expected to increase to near epidemic levels over the next 10−15 years. Glucokinase (GK) activators ...are currently under investigation by a number of pharmaceutical companies with only a few reaching early clinical evaluation. A GK activator has the promise of potentially affecting both the β-cells of the pancreas, by improving glucose sensitive insulin secretion, as well as the liver, by reducing uncontrolled glucose output and restoring post-prandial glucose uptake and storage as glycogen. Herein, we report our efforts on a sulfonamide chemotype with the aim to generate liver selective GK activators which culminated in the discovery of 3-cyclopentyl-N-(5-methoxy-thiazolo5,4-bpyridin-2-yl)-2-4-(4-methyl-piperazine-1-sulfonyl)-phenyl-propionamide (17c). This compound activated the GK enzyme (αKa = 39 nM) in vitro at low nanomolar concentrations and significantly reduced glucose levels during an oral glucose tolerance test in normal mice.
In a multinational trial (4522IL/0081), we assessed the effects of switching to low doses of rosuvastatin from commonly used doses of atorvastatin, simvastatin, and pravastatin on low-density ...lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) goal achievement in high-risk patients.
Hypercholesterolemic patients (n = 3140) with coronary heart disease, atherosclerosis, or type 2 diabetes were randomized to open-label rosuvastatin 10 mg, atorvastatin 10 or 20 mg, simvastatin 20 mg, or pravastatin 40 mg for 8 weeks. Patients either remained on these treatments for another 8 weeks or switched treatments from atorvastatin 10 mg, simvastatin 20 mg, and pravastatin 40 mg to rosuvastatin 10 mg or from atorvastatin 20 mg to rosuvastatin 10 or 20 mg. The primary efficacy measure was the proportion of patients reaching the Joint European Societies' LDL-C goal (<116 mg/dL) at week 16. For measures of cholesterol goal achievement, treatment arms were compared using logistic-regression analysis.
Significant improvement in LDL-C goal achievement was found for patients who switched to rosuvastatin 10 mg, compared with patients who remained on atorvastatin 10 mg (86% vs 80%, P <.05), simvastatin 20 mg (86% vs 72%, P <.0001), and pravastatin 40 mg (88% vs 66%, P <.0001), and between patients switched to rosuvastatin 20 mg and those who remained on atorvastatin 20 mg (90% vs 84%, P <.01). Similar results were found for achievement of the European combined LDL-C and total cholesterol goals and National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III LDL-C goals. All statins were well tolerated over 16 weeks.
We demonstrated that switching to a more efficacious statin is an effective strategy to improve lipid goal achievement in patients requiring lipid-lowering therapy.
Aryl–amines are commonly used synthons in modern drug discovery, however a minority of these chemical templates have the potential to cause toxicity through mutagenicity. The toxicity mostly arises ...through a series of metabolic steps leading to a reactive electrophilic nitrenium cation intermediate that reacts with DNA nucleotides causing mutation. Highly detailed in silico calculations of the energetics of chemical reactions involved in the metabolic formation of nitrenium cations have been performed. This allowed a critical assessment of the accuracy and reliability of using a theoretical formation energy of the DNA-reactive nitrenium intermediate to correlate with the Ames test response. This study contains the largest data set reported to date, and presents the in silico calculations versus the in vitro Ames response data in the form of beanplots commonly used in statistical analysis. A comparison of this quantum mechanical approach to QSAR and knowledge-based methods is also reported, as well as the calculated formation energies of nitrenium ions for thousands of commercially available aryl–amines generated as a watch-list for medicinal chemists in their synthetic optimization strategies.
This article provides evidence of a new class of compounds, 1,3-diaryl-1H-pyrazole-4-acetamides, initially identified from their ability to increase glucose transport in an adipocyte and muscle cell ...line and ultimately demonstrating dramatic glucose lowering in ob/ob mice, a diabetic animal model. The lead compound, 1, possessed some behavioral-like effects which were removed by structural variation during the course of this investigation. Specifically, 11g (R1 = meta-CF3, Ar2 = 4‘biphenyl, R3 = diethylamide) illustrated the potency of this series with ED50 values for glucose lowering in ob/ob mice of 3.0 mg/kg/day. Concomitant with its effect on glucose lowering, 11g also caused a 50% reduction in insulin levels consistent with an agent that increases whole body insulin sensitivity. 11g showed favorable pharmacokinetic data with acceptable absorption, negligible metabolism, and good duration of action. 11g demonstrated no appreciable adipogenic effect through PPARγ agonism, a characteristic of the thiazolidinediones (TZD), and so represents a potentially new class of agents for the treatment of diabetes.
Rosuvastatin (Crestor; licensed to AstraZeneca, Macclesfield, UK from Shionogi, Osaka, Japan) is a new statin with pharmacologic characteristics that translate into selectivity of effect in hepatic ...cells and enhanced potency in 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibition. It is approved for use at doses of 10-40 mg once daily to reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, increase high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and improve other lipid measures in dyslipidemic patients. In a dose-ranging study in mild/moderate hypercholesterolemia, rosuvastatin reduced LDL cholesterol by 52-63% at 10-40 mg. Rosuvastatin 10 mg reduces LDL cholesterol significantly more than atorvastatin 10 mg, simvastatin 10-40 mg and pravastatin 10-40 mg, and enables significantly more patients to achieve National Cholesterol Education Program and Joint European Societies LDL cholesterol goals compared with each of these statins. Rosuvastatin also produces marked elevations in HDL cholesterol and maintains this effect across the dose range. Rosuvastatin favorably modifies triglycerides, LDL cholesterol and other lipid measures in patients with hypertriglyceridemia or mixed dyslipidemia, including diabetic patients, and may constitute a monotherapy option for many such patients. Rosuvastatin is well tolerated when used alone or in combination, exhibiting a safety profile similar to that of other available statins. Rosuvastatin offers considerable advantages for use in routine clinical practice.
Utilization of fat as a long-term energy storage vehicle is crucial for the maintenance of cellular metabolism and is under intricate and many times redundant control mechanisms. Aberrations in the ...control of energy metabolism is apparent in diseases such as diabetes and obesity and is evident early on in patients with impaired glucose tolerance. Insulin resistance has been observed at the level of muscle, liver and adipose tissue. Hyperglycemia is the hallmark of diabetes and is characterized by decreased glucose disposal and increased glucose production, driven by enhanced and uncontrolled fatty acid oxidation (FAO). Mechanisms aimed at limiting the availability of substrates or the activity of processes involved in FAO should provide an immediate reduction in undesired glucose production in these individuals. Numerous targets are available which influence directly the metabolism of fat, including limiting availability of substrate to FAO, inhibiting oxidation of the fatty acid per se, and uncoupling the energy obtained during the oxidation of the fatty acid. These include antilipolytic agents which limit the availability of substrate, FAO inhibitors which limit fatty acid transport (carnitine palmitoyl transferase, CoA sequestration), FAO per se (beta oxidation), and agents which uncouple the energy of FAO (uncoupling proteins, beta3 agonists). These other targets which affect fatty acid metabolism indirectly will be discussed in this review with 184 references.
With the increasing application of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), the topic of technical debt management for machine learning systems is gaining more attention. Additionally, ...industrial systems including manufacturing or logistics processes are also supposed to benefit from AI and ML, which is reported in many publications related to ML application models. However, fewer studies on "how is technical debt managed in context of ML systems" are being published. This contribution fills this gap by reporting findings from 15 semi-structured and in-depth interviews conducted with industrial practitioners. Based on the interview results, suggestions for an initial technical debt management process and two document artifacts that facilitate the process are addressed.
Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death worldwide, and hypertension is the major risk factor. Mendelian hypertension elucidates mechanisms of blood pressure regulation. Here we ...report six missense mutations in PDE3A (encoding phosphodiesterase 3A) in six unrelated families with mendelian hypertension and brachydactyly type E (HTNB). The syndrome features brachydactyly type E (BDE), severe salt-independent but age-dependent hypertension, an increased fibroblast growth rate, neurovascular contact at the rostral-ventrolateral medulla, altered baroreflex blood pressure regulation and death from stroke before age 50 years when untreated. In vitro analyses of mesenchymal stem cell-derived vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) and chondrocytes provided insights into molecular pathogenesis. The mutations increased protein kinase A-mediated PDE3A phosphorylation and resulted in gain of function, with increased cAMP-hydrolytic activity and enhanced cell proliferation. Levels of phosphorylated VASP were diminished, and PTHrP levels were dysregulated. We suggest that the identified PDE3A mutations cause the syndrome. VSMC-expressed PDE3A deserves scrutiny as a therapeutic target for the treatment of hypertension.