Drug Design, Development and Therapy (Aug 2023)
In vitro and in vivo Efficacies of Novel Harmine Derivatives in the Treatment of Cystic Echinococcosis
Abstract
Bei Chen,1,2,* Mingzhi Yan,1,2,* Huijing Gao,1,2 Qin Ma,3 Lihua Li,4 Guodong Lü,1,2 Yuehong Gong,1,2 Limei Wen,1,2 Shaoquan Xu,5 Jianhua Wang,1,2 Jun Zhao1,2 1First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, Xinjiang, People’s Republic of China; 2State Key Laboratory of Pathogenesis, Prevention and Treatment of High Incidence Diseases in Central Asia, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, Xinjiang, People’s Republic of China; 3HuaShiDan Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Urumqi, Xinjiang, People’s Republic of China; 4Xinjiang Urumqi Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Urumqi, Xinjiang, People’s Republic of China; 5College of Pharmacy, Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, Xinjiang, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Jun Zhao; Jianhua Wang, First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, State Key Laboratory of Pathogenesis, Prevention, and Treatment of Central Asian High Incidence Diseases, Urumqi, Xinjiang, 830011, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected]; [email protected]: Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a chronic zoonotic parasitic disease caused by the larvae of the Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato (s.l.) cluster. The current existing drugs have limited therapeutic efficacy against cystic echinococcosis, and thus, there is an urgent need to develop new drugs.Methods: In this study, 7 harmine (HM) derivatives were screened and the effects of HM derivatives on E. granulosus sensu stricto (s.s.) were evaluated by in vitro and mouse experiments. The safety of the HM derivatives was assessed by cytotoxicity assays, acute toxicity study in animals and subacute toxicity study.Results: These results show that the HM derivatives H-2-168 and DH-004 exhibited more significant antiparasitic effects at an initial concentration of 40 μM. The results of further studies showed that H-2-168 and DH-004 had dose-dependent effects against protoscoleces and had satisfactory therapeutic outcomes in vivo. Electron microscopy observations demonstrated that H-2-168 and DH-004 caused severe disruption of the parasite ultrastructure. Notably, the results of the acute toxicity and subchronic toxicity studies showed that H-2-168 and DH-004 had significantly improved safety. In addition, we found that H-2-168 and DH-004 induced DNA damage in E. granulosus s.s., which may be the mechanism by which these drugs produce their therapeutic effects.Discussion: Overall, the data from this work demonstrate that H-2-168 and DH-004 are highly effective candidate compounds with low toxicity for the treatment of CE and will provide a new therapeutic strategy for CE pharmacological treatment.Graphical Abstract: Keywords: harmine derivatives, β-carboline, Echinococcus granulosus sensu stricto, cystic echinococcosis, DNA damage
