You Zhengqing, Lee Henry Young
College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Florida A & M University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA.
Nucleosides Nucleotides Nucleic Acids. 2006;25(1):37-54. doi: 10.1080/15257770500377789.
In an attempt to discover anti-HIV agents with much reduced cytotoxicity from the currently available HIV-reverse transcriptase inhibitors, AZT conjugates of cholanic acids, 2-imidazolidone-4-carboxylic acid and its derivatives, and N,N'-disubstituted 5-hydroxy-tetrahydropyrimidin-2-ones have been synthesized and their anti-HIV profiles determined with CEM-SS cell line. The AZT conjugates with 2-imidazolidone-4-carboxylic acid and 2-pyrrolidone-5-carboxylic acid through an ester linkage, and with N,N'-diphenyl-5-hydroxy-tetrahydropyrimidin-2-one through a succinate tether showed significantly higher therapeutic indexes than AZT while they also retained or enhanced AZT's anti-HIV activity. Thus, structural features that favor the desired therapeutic profile of the conjugates appear to include a five-membered ring cyclic urea or lactam, and six-membered ring cyclic urea with N,N'-diphenyl substitution.
