Correlation between hydrophobicity of N-alkylxanthine derivatives and their biological activities on guinea-pig isolated tracheal smooth muscle.

Abstract

Cyclic (c) AMP phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitory activities of N-alkylxanthine derivatives (3-methyl-,3-ethyl-,3-propyl-,3-butyl-,1,3-dimethyl-,1-methyl-3-ethyl-,1-methyl - 3-propyl- and 1-methyl-3-butyl xanthines) and their relaxant effects on carbachol-induced contraction and on resting tone guinea-pig isolated tracheal smooth muscle have been investigated. The PDE inhibition constant (Ki) and the concentration producing 50% tracheal smooth muscle relaxation in-vitro (EC50) were determined. Significant correlations between the -log Ki values and the -log EC50 values on the carbachol-induced contraction or on the resting tone were found (r = 0.902 and 0.892). The apparent partition coefficient (P) between n-octanol and pH 7.4 phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) was measured as an index of hydrophobicity of the xanthine derivatives. There were significant correlations between log P and both -log EC50 values and between the log P and -log Ki values. These findings suggest that the cAMP PDE inhibitory activity of N-alkylxanthine derivatives contributes to the mechanism of bronchodilatory action, and that an increase in hydrophobicity of the xanthine molecule enhances the biological activity.