N-Valproyl-L-Phenylalanine as New Potential Antiepileptic Drug: Synthesis, Characterization and In Vitro Studies on Stability, Toxicity and Anticonvulsant Efficacy

Title:N-Valproyl-L-Phenylalanine as New Potential Antiepileptic Drug: Synthesis, Characterization and In Vitro Studies on Stability, Toxicity and Anticonvulsant Efficacy

Volume: 11 Issue: 1

Author(s): Viviana De Caro, Anna Lisa Scaturro, Flavia Maria Sutera, Giuseppe Avellone, Gabriella Schiera, Evelina Ferrantelli, Maria Carafa, Valerio Rizzo, Fabio Carletti, Pierangelo Sardo and Libero Italo Giannola

Affiliation:

Keywords: Aminoacidic derivative, astrocytes toxicity, CNS-targeting, enzymatic stability, hippocampal epilepsy, valproic acid.

Abstract: Valproic acid (VPA) is considered first-line drug in treatment of generalized idiopathic seizures such as absence, generalized tonic-clonic and myoclonic seizures. Among major antiepileptic drugs, VPA is also considered effective in childhood epilepsies and infantile spasms.

Due to its broad activity, VPA acts as a mood stabilizer in bipolar disorder and it is useful in migraine prophylaxis. Despite its long-standing usage, severe reactions to VPA, such as liver toxicity and teratogenicity, are reported. To circumvent side effects due to structural characteristics of VPA, we synthesized in good yield a new VPA-aminoacid conjugate, the N-valproyl-L-Phenylalanine, and characterized by FT-IR, MS, ¹³C and ¹H- NMR analyses. The Log D^pH7.4 value (0.19) indicated that new molecule was potentially able to cross biological membranes. The resistance to chemical and enzymatic hydrolysis of N-valproyl-L-phenylalanine was also assessed. All trials suggested that the compound, at the pH conditions of the entire gastro-intestinal tract, remained unmodified. Furthermore, the new compound did not undergo enzymatic cleavage both in plasma and in cerebral medium up to 24 h.

The toxicity assay on primary cultures of astrocytes indicated that the synthetized conjugate was less toxic than both free VPA and L-Phenylalanine. In this paper, the anticonvulsant activity of the new compound against epileptic burst discharges evoked in vitro in rat hippocampal slices was also evaluated.

These preliminary results underline that N-valproyl-L-phenylalanine as new potential antiepileptic agent could represent a good candidate to further investigations.

Cite this article as:

Caro De Viviana, Scaturro Lisa Anna, Sutera Maria Flavia, Avellone Giuseppe, Schiera Gabriella, Ferrantelli Evelina, Carafa Maria, Rizzo Valerio, Carletti Fabio, Sardo Pierangelo and Giannola Italo Libero, N-Valproyl-L-Phenylalanine as New Potential Antiepileptic Drug: Synthesis, Characterization and In Vitro Studies on Stability, Toxicity and Anticonvulsant Efficacy, Medicinal Chemistry 2015; 11 (1) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1573406410666140507094954