Second-generation aspirin and indomethacin prodrugs possessing an O(2)-(acetoxymethyl)-1-(2-carboxypyrrolidin-1-yl)diazenium-1,2-diolate nitric oxide donor moiety: design, synthesis, biological evaluation, and nitric oxide release studies.

The carboxylic acid group of the anti-inflammatory (AI) drugs aspirin and indomethacin was covalently linked to the 1-(2-carboxypyrrolidin-1-yl)diazen-1-ium-1,2-diolate ion via a one-carbon methylene spacer to obtain two new hybrid prodrugs. The aspirin prodrug ( 23) was a 2.2-fold more potent AI agent than aspirin, whereas the indomethacin prodrug ( 26) was about 1.6-fold less potent than indomethacin. Prodrugs 23 and 26 slowly released nitric oxide (NO) upon dissolution in phosphate buffer at pH 7.4 (1.1 mol of NO/mol of compound after 43 h), but the rate and the extent of NO release were higher (1.9 mol of NO/mol of compound in 3 min or less) when the compounds were incubated in the presence of porcine liver esterase. In vivo ulcer index (UI) studies showed that the aspirin prodrug 23 (UI = 0.7) and indomethacin prodrug 26 (UI = 0) were substantially less ulcerogenic than the parent drugs aspirin (UI = 51) and indomethacin (UI = 64).