Dataset Information

Resolution of praziquantel.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Praziquantel remains the drug of choice for the worldwide treatment and control of schistosomiasis. The drug is synthesized and administered as a racemate. Use of the pure active enantiomer would be desirable since the inactive enantiomer is associated with side effects and is responsible for the extremely bitter taste of the pill.

Methodology/principal findings

We have identified two resolution approaches toward the production of praziquantel as a single enantiomer. One approach starts with commercially available praziquantel and involves a hydrolysis to an intermediate amine, which is resolved with a derivative of tartaric acid. This method was discovered through an open collaboration on the internet. The second method, identified by a contract research organisation, employs a different intermediate that may be resolved with tartaric acid itself.

Conclusions/significance

Both resolution procedures identified show promise for the large-scale, economically viable production of praziquantel as a single enantiomer for a low price. Additionally, they may be employed by laboratories for the production of smaller amounts of enantiopure drug for research purposes that should be useful in, for example, elucidation of the drug's mechanism of action.

SUBMITTER: Woelfle M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3176743 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Resolution of praziquantel.

Woelfle Michael M Seerden Jean-Paul JP de Gooijer Jesse J Pouwer Kees K Olliaro Piero P Todd Matthew H MH

PLoS neglected tropical diseases 20110920 9

<h4>Background</h4>Praziquantel remains the drug of choice for the worldwide treatment and control of schistosomiasis. The drug is synthesized and administered as a racemate. Use of the pure active enantiomer would be desirable since the inactive enantiomer is associated with side effects and is responsible for the extremely bitter taste of the pill.<h4>Methodology/principal findings</h4>We have identified two resolution approaches toward the production of praziquantel as a single enantiomer. On ...[more]

PMID: 21949890

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Project description:BackgroundTreatment and morbidity control of schistosomiasis relies on a single drug, praziquantel. Hence, there is a pressing need to develop additional therapeutics against schistosomiasis. The antimalarial drug mefloquine shows antischistosomal activity in animal models and clinical trials, which calls for further investigations.MethodologyWe comparatively assessed the efficacy and tolerability of the following treatments against Schistosoma haematobium in school-aged children in Côte d'Ivoire: (i) praziquantel (40 mg/kg; standard treatment); (ii) mefloquine (25 mg/kg) combined with praziquantel (40 mg/kg); and (iii) mefloquine-artesunate (3× (100 mg artesunate +250 mg mefloquine)) combined with praziquantel (40 mg/kg) (treatments administered on subsequent days). Two urine samples were collected before, and on days 21-22 and 78-79 after the first dosing.Principal findingsSixty-one children were present on all examination time points and had complete datasets. No difference in efficacy was observed between the three treatment groups on either follow-up. On the 21-22 day posttreatment follow-up, based on available case analysis, cure rates of 33% (95% confidence interval (CI) 11-55%), 29% (95% CI 8-50%), and 26% (95% CI 5-48%) were observed for praziquantel, mefloquine-artesunate-praziquantel, and mefloquine-praziquantel, respectively. The corresponding egg reduction rates were 94% and above. On the second follow-up, observed cure rates ranged from 19% (praziquantel) to 33% (mefloquine-artesunate-praziquantel), and egg reduction rates were above 90%. Praziquantel monotherapy was the best tolerated treatment. In the mefloquine-artesunate-praziquantel group, adverse events were reported by 91% of the participants, and in the mefloquine-praziquantel group, 95% experienced adverse events. With the exception of abdominal pain at moderate severity, adverse events were mild.Conclusions/significanceThe addition of mefloquine or mefloquine-artesunate does not increase the efficacy of praziquantel against chronic S. haematobium infection. Additional studies are necessary to elucidate the effect of the combinations against acute schistosomiasis.

Project description:Praziquantel (PZQ) is a drug commonly utilized to treat both human schistosomiasis and some parasitic infections and infestations in animals. In the aquarium industry, PZQ can be administered in a "bath" to treat the presence of ectoparasites on both the gills and skin of fish and elasmobranchs. In order to fully treat an infestation, the bath treatment has to maintain therapeutic levels of PZQ over a period of days or weeks. It has long been assumed that, once administered, PZQ is stable in a marine environment throughout the treatment interval and must be mechanically removed, but no controlled experiments have been conducted to validate that claim. This study aimed to determine if PZQ would break down naturally within a marine aquarium below its 2 ppm therapeutic level during a typical 30-day treatment: and if so, does the presence of fish or the elimination of all living biological material impact the degradation of PZQ? Three 650 L marine aquarium systems, each containing 12 fish (French grunts: Haemulon flavolineatum), and three 650 L marine aquariums each containing no fish were treated with PZQ (2 ppm) and concentrations were measured daily for 30 days. After one round of treatment, the PZQ was no longer detectable in any system after 8 (±1) days. The subsequent two PZQ treatments yielded even faster PZQ breakdown (non-detectable after 2 days and 2 ± 1 day, respectively) with slight variations between systems. Linear mixed effects models of the data indicate that day and trial most impact PZQ degradation, while the presence of fish was not a factor in the best-fit models. In a completely sterilized marine system (0.5 L) PZQ concentration remained unchanged over 15 days, suggesting that PZQ may be stable in a marine system during this time period. The degradation observed in non-sterile marine systems in this study may be microbial in nature. This work should be taken into consideration when providing PZQ bath treatments to marine animals to ensure maximum drug administration.

Project description:Background: Treatment and morbidity control of schistosomiasis relies on a single drug, praziquantel. Therefore, there is a pressing need to explore the effects of PZQ on the parasites at the molecular level and to pursue alternative and/or or synergistic drugs against schistosomiasis. Methodology: We used a custom-designed Schistosoma mansoni oligo-microarray to explore the effects of a sublethal dose of praziquantel on S. mansoni adult worms’ gene expression. We used functional analysis of gene interaction networks to identify differentially expressed genes that are known targets of other drugs already tested in humans for diverse disease conditions. Omeprazole, a proton pump inhibitor drug that is widely prescribed, was tested in combination with praziquantel. We comparatively assessed the efficacy of praziquantel or omeprazole alone and in combination against S. mansoni adult worms in vitro over a period of 120 hours. Principal Findings: We identified sets of genes that were affected by praziquantel on both paired and unpaired females, however with opposite gene expression patterns (up-regulated in paired and down-regulated in unpaired females), indicating that the transcriptomics changes induced by praziquantel are heavily influenced by the mating status. We also identified genes that were similarly affected by praziquantel in males and females. The use of sublethal doses of praziquantel together with omeprazole showed a significantly enhanced worm mortality in vitro compared to praziquantel alone, thus evidencing a synergic effect. Conclusions: Functional analysis of gene interaction networks is an important approach to identify genes whose expression is affected by one drug and that are at the same time known targets of other drugs already tested in humans for diverse disease conditions, thus pointing the latter as possible synergic drugs. Combined treatment with omeprazol increases the efficacy of praziquantel against S. mansoni adult worms in vitro, and additional in vivo studies are warranted.

Dataset Information

Resolution of praziquantel.

Background

Methodology/principal findings

Conclusions/significance

Publications

Resolution of praziquantel.

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