The present invention refers to compounds that, in addition to enhancing the sensitivity to acetylcholine and choline of neuronal cholinergic receptors and/or acting as cholinesterase inhibitors and/or neuroprotective agents, have enhanced blood-brain barrier permeability in comparison to their parent compounds. The compounds are derived (either formally by their chemical structure or directly by chemical synthesis) from natural compounds belonging to the class of amaryllidaceae alkaloids e.g. galanthamine, narwedine and lycoramine, or from metabolites of said compounds. The compounds of the present invention can either interact as such with their target molecules, or they can act as “pro-drugs”, in the sense that after reaching their target regions in the body they are converted by hydrolysis or enzymatic attack to the original parent compound and react as such with their target molecules, or both. The compounds of this invention may be used as medicaments for the treatment of human brain diseases associated with a cholinergic deficit, including the neurodegenerative diseases Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease and the psychiatric diseases vascular dementia, schizophrenia and epilepsy.
本发明涉及化合物,除了增强神经元
胆碱能受体对
乙酰胆碱和
胆碱的敏感性,或者作为
胆碱酯酶抑制剂和/或神经保护剂外,与其母化合物相比,具有增强的血脑屏障渗透性。这些化合物是从天仙子科
生物碱类天仙子碱,如无心菜碱、纳尔韦丁和百合碱,或其代谢物中派生的(通过其
化学结构或直接通过
化学合成)。本发明的化合物可以直接与其目标分子相互作用,也可以作为“前药”,在到达体内目标区域后,通过
水解或酶攻击转化为原始母化合物,并像母化合物一样与其目标分子反应,或两者兼而有之。本发明的化合物可用作治疗与
胆碱能缺陷相关的人类脑疾病的药物,包括神经退行性疾病阿尔茨海默病和帕
金森病以及精神疾病血管性痴呆、精神分裂症和癫痫。