Pharmacological profile of the substituted beta-lactam L-659,286: a member of a new class of human PMN elastase inhibitors.

Human polymorphonuclear leukocyte elastase (PMN elastase) is inhibited by L-659,286 (7 alpha-methoxy-8-oxo-3-[[(1,2,5,6-tetrahydro-2-methyl-5,6-dioxo-1,2,4- triaz-in-3-yl)thio]methyl]-5-thia-1-aza-6R-bicyclo[4.2.O]oct-2-ene -2- pyrrolidine carboxamide-5,-dioxide) with a Ki of 0.4 microM. This inhibition is time-dependent, rapid, and only slowly reversible, with a t1/2 of greater than 3 days at 25 degrees C. L-659,286 is also highly selective for PMN elastase, as it does not inhibit thrombin, trypsin, papain, plasmin, chymotrypsin, or cathepsin G. L-659,286 administered intratracheally inhibits lung damage caused by administration via the same route of human PMN elastase into hamsters. In marmosets, L-659,286 is cleared from blood very rapidly after an intravenous injection but is recovered in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid for several hours after intratracheal administration.