Methotrexate analogs. 19. Enhancement of the antitumor effect of methotrexate and 3',5'-dichloromethotrexate by the use of lipid-soluble diesters
摘要:
Lipophilic methotrexate (MTX) and 3',5'-dichloromethotrexate (DCM) diesters were prepared by HCl-catalyzed esterification or by neutral esterification using cesium carbonate and an alkyl or aralkyl halide in Me2SO. The products were tested for in vivo antitumor activity against L1210 leukemia in mice to test whether all MTX and DCM diesters are therapeutically equivalent in this species. Contrary to what has been found with simple primary dialkyl esters, ortho-substituted dibenzyl esters of MTX produce longer survival on a q3dX3 schedule than does MTX itself and show a dose-sparing effect comparable to that of MTX at shorter treatment intervals. Thus, MTX bis(6-chloropiperonyl) ester at an MTX-equivalent dose of 5.5 mg/kg gave a +88% increase in median life span (ILS), whereas for MTX a +88% ILS required 30 mg/kg. When the MTX-equivalent dose of MTX bis(6-chloropiperonyl) ester was increased to 40 mg/kg, a +167% ILS was observed, as compared with a +100% ILS with 60 mg/kg of the parent drug. High activity (greater than 100% ILS) was likewise shown by the bis(2,5-dimethylbenzyl), bis(2,6-dichlorobenzyl), and di-3-picolyl esters of MTX and by the bis(1-methylbutyl) ester of DCM. The results of this study indicate that MTX and DCM esters are not therapeutically equivalent in mice, despite the high serum esterase activity in this species, and that an up to 10-fold reduction in total administered dose on the q3dX3 schedule is feasible by this approach.
Methotrexate analogs. 21. Divergent influence of alkyl chain length on the dihydrofolate reductase affinity and cytotoxicity of methotrexate monoesters
作者:Andre Rosowsky、Ronald A. Forsch、Cheng Sein Yu、Herbert Lazarus、G. Peter Beardsley
DOI:10.1021/jm00371a009
日期:1984.5
n-Octyl, n-dodecyl, and n-hexadecyl alpha- and gamma-esters of methotrexate (MTX) were compared with the previously described alpha- and gamma-n-butyl esters and with MTX as inhibitors of dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) and human leukemic lymphoblasts (CEM cells) in culture. The overall order of activity in both test systems was MTX greater than MTX gamma-esters greater than MTX alpha-esters. In the DHFR assay the activity of the alpha-esters followed the order C4 greater than C8 congruent to C12 greater than C16, whereas for the gamma-esters this order was C4 congruent to C8 greater than C12 greater than C16. On the other hand, the order of cytotoxic activity in culture in both series was C16 greater than C12 greater than C8 greater than C4. Increasing the alkyl chain length in the ester moiety therefore decreases DHFR affinity but increases cytotoxicity. The most potent member of the compounds tested was the gamma-n-hexadecyl ester, whose IC50 against CEM cells was 0.11 microM as compared with 0.025 microM for MTX. In a comparison of the effect of treatment with the gamma-n-hexadecyl ester (10(-5) M, 1 h) on DNA synthesis in CEM and CEM/MTX cells, the latter of which are 120-fold resistant to MTX by virtue of a transport defect, the ester produced only 4-fold less inhibition in the resistant line than in the parental line. These results suggest possible use of this compound or related derivatives in the treatment of MTX-resistant tumors with impaired transport.