Studies on pyrazinoylguanidine: a novel antihypertensive, hypoglycemic and lipolytic drug intended for adjunctive use in hypertensive patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Herein are described the development and certain properties of a new drug, pyrazinoylguanidine (PZG), intended for use as an adjunct in the treatment of hypertensive patients with type 2 diabetes, formerly called noninsulin dependent diabetes mellitus. PZG is an analog of the potassium sparing diuretic, amiloride. However, in diabetic patients, amiloride exacerbates hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia, whereas PZG reduces them. In several studies, PZG not only reduced elevated blood pressure in subjects with essential hypertension, but also downregulated the glucose fatty acid cycle in hypertensive patients with type 2 diabetes. PZG was well tolerated in all patients, as well as in normal subjects whose blood pressures and glucose metabolism were unaffected by PZG. However, in normal subjects made hyperglycemic by giving them hydrochlorothiazide, coadministration of PZG returned blood glucose concentrations to normal. Mechanisms for these effects of PZG in human subjects were investigated in both normal Sprague–Dawley rats and rats made diabetic with streptozotocin (STZ). In isolated rat adipocytes stimulated with theophylline, PZG downregulated both lipolysis and cyclic AMP concentrations. PZG, as well as insulin, increased adipose cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase activity, whereas theophylline reduced it. In perfused rat liver, PZG decreased gluconeogenesis and cyclic AMP concentrations. Collectively, these studies illustrate how the side effects (toxicity) of certain drugs, such as the tendency of thiazide diuretics to cause hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia, can be modulated and even reversed by slight changes in the chemical structure of the molecule, specifically by removal of the 3,5-diamino and 6-chloro substituents on the benzene ring of amiloride to produce PZG.