Discovery of a Novel Highly Selective Histamine H4 Receptor Antagonist for the Treatment of Atopic Dermatitis

J Med Chem. 2018 Apr 12;61(7):2949-2961. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.7b01855. Epub 2018 Apr 3.

Abstract

The histamine H4 receptor (H4R), a member of the G-protein coupled receptor family, has been considered as a potential therapeutic target for treating atopic dermatitis (AD). A large number of H4R antagonists have been disclosed, but no efficient agents controlling both pruritus and inflammation in AD have been developed yet. Here, we have discovered a novel class of orally available H4R antagonists showing strong anti-itching and anti-inflammation activity as well as excellent selectivity against off-targets. A pharmacophore-based virtual screening system constructed in-house successfully identified initial hit compound 9, and the subsequent homology model-guided optimization efficiently led us to discover pyrido[2,3- e]tetrazolo[1,5- a]pyrazine analogue 48 as a novel chemotype of a potent and highly selective H4R antagonist. Importantly, orally administered compound 48 exhibits remarkable efficacy on antipruritus and anti-inflammation with a favorable pharmacokinetic (PK) profile in several mouse models of AD. Thus, these data strongly suggest that our compound 48 is a promising clinical candidate for treatment of AD.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Biological Availability
  • Computer Simulation
  • Dermatitis, Atopic / drug therapy*
  • Drug Discovery
  • Drug Evaluation, Preclinical
  • Female
  • Histamine Antagonists / chemical synthesis*
  • Histamine Antagonists / pharmacokinetics
  • Histamine Antagonists / therapeutic use*
  • Inflammation / drug therapy
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Mice, Inbred ICR
  • Models, Molecular
  • Molecular Conformation
  • Molecular Docking Simulation
  • Pruritus / drug therapy
  • Receptors, Histamine H4 / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Receptors, Histamine H4 / metabolism
  • Structure-Activity Relationship

Substances

  • Histamine Antagonists
  • Receptors, Histamine H4