Excited-state Properties and In Vitro Phototoxicity Studies of Three Phenothiazine Derivatives¶ (original) (raw)
Related papers
Photosensitization of Biomolecules by Phenothiazine Derivatives
Current Drug Targets, 2006
It is well known that many drugs act as photosensitizers towards cells by interacting with various cellular components such as lipids, proteins and nucleic acids. The structural modifications of the cellular components may occur by direct interactions of the excited states (singlets or triplets) of the drugs with the biological substrate or indirectly, through reactive species of oxygen sensitised by the drug themselves. In particular, the phototoxic activity of various drugs correlated with their potential photomutagenic and photocarcinogenic effects, takes place through DNA modification. Phenothiazines, a class of antihistaminic (anti-H1) or neuroleptic drugs used in the therapy of mental illness, such as schizophrenia, organic psychoses and other mental disorders, are known to induce photosensitization of the skin by systemic use or by topical applications as antiallergic drugs. In this review we have focused our attention on the photosensitizing property of phenothiazines and related compounds both in vitro and in vivo systems. Particular attention has been given to the mechanism of photo reaction with biomolecules such as lipids, proteins and DNA. Moreover there is a growing interest in drugs having photobiological effects because of their possible application as phototherapeutics. It has been interesting in this context to mention briefly the possible application of phenothiazine derivatives as new photosensitizers for their therapeutic application in photodynamic therapy (PDT) or in the light inactivation of viruses and bacteria.
Chemical Research in Toxicology, 2006
This paper reports the results of an in vitro evaluation of the phototoxic potential of stable photoproducts formed by UVA photolysis of three phenothiazines, perphenazine, fluphenazine, and thioridazine, in a water environment. Perphenazine gave a single product due to dechlorination. From thioridazine, the two major products formed; the endocyclic sulfoxide and the endocyclic N-oxide in which the 2-SCH 3 substituent was replaced by a hydroxy group were tested. From fluphenazine, two products have been examined as follows: an exocyclic N-piperazine oxide and a carboxylic acid arising from hydrolysis of the 2-CF 3 group. The phototoxicity of the isolated photoproducts has been studied in order to determine their possibile involvement in the photosensitizing effects exhibited by the parent drugs, using hemolysis and 3T3 fibroblasts viability as in vitro assays. As fluphenazine, perphenazine, and thioridazine did, some photoproducts proved phototoxic. In particular, the perphenazine dechlorinated photoproduct and the thioridazine N-oxide were found to exert phototoxic properties similar to the parent compounds. Therefore, our data suggest that some phenothiazine photoproducts may play a role in the mechanism of photosensitivity of these drugs. Because some of these photoproducts correspond to metabolic products of phenothiazines found in humans, it cannot be ruled out that metabolites of phenothiazines can be phototoxic in vivo.
The Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 2005
The photophysical properties of several 2-substituted, 10-alkylated phenothiazines were measured in several solvents to investigate the relevance of the molecular structure in their photophysics and consequent photochemistry. Because the interaction modes of each drug and its corresponding species strongly depend on the variety of microenvironments in the cells, the properties of each one of these species must also be determined separately to understand fully the mechanism of action of the drug and the mechanism of its side effects. Information on the chemical interactions of the different species at the cellular level can be inferred from the corresponding electronic properties. In this work, we present absorption, steady-state, and timeresolved emission, laser flash photolysis, and quantum theoretical results for the ground state, the first excited singlet and triplet states, and the cation radical of promazine hydrochloride (PZ), 2-chlorpromazine hydrochloride (CPZ), 2-trifuoromethylpromazine hydrochloride (TFMPZ), 2-trifluoromethylperazine dihydrochloride (TFMP), 2-thiomethylpromazine (TMPZ), and thioridazine hydrochloride (TR). The corresponding nonalkylated phenothiazines are included as references. The photophysical properties of this drug family depend more on the solvent and the 2-substituents than on the dialkylaminopropyl chain. The largest effect was found for the triplet state of the 2-halogenated derivatives in phosphate buffer (PBS). Both the quantum yield and the lifetime of this intermediate drop to less than 5% of the corresponding value in organic solvents. The triplet state of halogenated promazines is efficiently quenched by a proton-transfer mechanism, and the rate of this quenching correlates very well with the phototoxicity of the promazine drugs. Therefore, we postulate that this species is directly related to the phototoxic side effect of neuroleptic drugs.
Toxicological Sciences, 2013
This study aimed to establish an efficient photosafety screening system, employing in vitro photochemical and cassette-dosing pharmacokinetic (PK) studies. Eight phenothiazine (PTZ) derivatives were selected as model chemicals, and photochemical characterization and cassette-dosing PK study were carried out. In vivo photosafety testing on oral PTZs (100 mg/kg) was also assessed in rats. All the tested PTZs exhibited potent UVA/B absorption with molar extinction coefficients of ca. 3400-4400 M −1 cm −1. Under exposure to simulated sunlight (2.0 mW/cm 2), all PTZs, especially fluphenazine 2HCl (FP) and trifluoperazine 2HCl (TF), tended to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS). Casset-dosing PK studies demonstrated high dermal deposition of FP and TF in rats, and from these findings, taken together with the potent photochemical reactivity, both FP and TF were deduced to be highly phototoxic. In contrast, the phototoxic potential of chlorpromazine HCl (CP) seemed to be low because of moderate ROS generation and limited dermal distribution. Predicted phototoxic risk for PTZs from photochemical and PK data appeared basically to agree with the observed phototoxicity in rats; however, oral CP (100 mg/kg) caused severe phototoxic responses in rats. Metabolites of CP have been recognized to be phototoxic, which might explain in part this false prediction. These findings might also suggest the necessity of complementary testing on drug metabolites for more reliable photosafety evaluation. The combined use of photochemical and PK data might be efficacious for simple and fast prediction of the phototoxic potential of new drug candidates.
Photo-oxidative damage to isolated rat liver mitochondria induced by phenothiazines
2009
Photosensitization is a well-known side-effect of phenothiazines that could involve photochemically promoted oxidative damage to mitochondria, leading to the impairment of metabolic functions and apoptosis. In this work, for the first time, we investigated the effects of photoexcited thioridazine (TR), trifluoperazine (TFP) and fluphenazine (FP) on isolated rat liver mitochondria. Under UV irradiation, the presence of these phenothiazines led to a dose-dependent lack of the respiratory control ratio. These effects were not accompanied by significant swelling and oxidation of protein thiol groups but were accompanied by lipid peroxidation. Lycopene and sorbate, well-known quenchers of singlet oxygen and triplet species, respectively, were ineffective at protecting mitochondrial lipids against the damage promoted by the excited phenothiazines, suggesting that photochemically-produced cation radicals were the prooxidant species. Corroborating this proposal, butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) completely inhibited the lipid peroxidation induced by UV irradiation in the presence of phenothiazines. These novel results make a significant contribution to the understanding of the photochemical properties of phenothiazines in biological systems.
Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences, 2006
The UVA-absorbing photoproduct resulting from the oxidation of the sulfur atom and of the side chain nitrogen of the phototoxic drug cyamemazine (CMZ) (2-cyano-10-(3-[dimethylamino]-2 methylpropyl)-phenothiazine) is a potent photodynamic photosensitizer. The photophysical and photochemical properties of this photoproduct (P) (2-cyano-10-(3-[dimethylamino, N-oxide]-2-methylpropyl)-5-oxide-phenothiazine)) have been investigated in neutral buffered aqueous solutions and in ethanol and compared to those of the sulfoxide (S) (2-cyano-10-(3-[dimethylamino]-2 methylpropyl)-5-oxide-phenothiazine), a CMZ oxidation product of cells. The fluorescence quantum yield (U F) of P is 0.25 and 0.21 in pH 7 phosphate buffer and ethanol, respectively. By contrast, S (U F = 0.14 in buffer) is practically unfluorescent in alcohol. In buffer, the fluorescence lifetimes of P and S are 10.5 and 11.8 ns, respectively. The transient absorbance of the first excited triplet state (3 P 1) with a characteristic absorption band peaking at 660 nm (e = 5 300 M −1 cm −1) has been observed by 355 nm laser flash spectroscopy of deaerated phosphate buffer or ethanol solutions. In buffer, the 3 P 1 lifetime is 0.5 ls. The energy transfer which occurs from the 3 P 1 to naproxen suggests that the 3 P 1 energy is greater than 62 kcal mol −1. Triplet quenching by dioxygen occurs at rate 2.3 × 10 9 M −1 s −1. With the triplet benzophenone as actinometer, the 3 P 1 formation quantum yield is found to be 0. 40 in buffer. The 3 P 1 state is quenched by ethanol and 2-propanol with bimolecular reaction rate constants of 1.6 and 2.4 × 10 6 M −1 s −1 , respectively. In buffer, P and S triplet states react with tryptophan, indole and cysteine at rate constants of the order of 10 9 M −1 s −1 for Trp and indole and 10 8 M −1 s −1 for Cys.
The phototoxicity of phenothiazinium-based photosensitizers to bacterial membranes
FEMS Immunology & Medical Microbiology, 2006
The ability of phenothiazinium-based photosensitizers to induce photodamage to Escherichia coli membranes is investigated. Phenothiazinium-based photosensitizers were found to be somewhat lipophilic (log P 4 0.7) and to induce surfacepressure changes (3-12 mN m À 1 ) in lipid monolayers mimetic of bacterial membranes, implying that these molecules are able to penetrate biological membranes. Under dark and light conditions (3.15 J cm À 1 for 30 min), phenothiazinium-based photosensitizers were incubated with E. coli cells. These cells showed levels of dark bacteriolysis that ranged between 6% and 13%, with light conditions leading to no significant increase in these levels. Gas chromatographybased analyses showed such incubations to produce no significant changes in the levels of C 16 and C 18 fatty acid chain saturation found in E. coli whole lipidextracts. It is concluded that the phenothiazinium-based photosensitizers studied may not use E. coli membranes as their primary photodynamic target, but may inflict photodamage on cytoplasmic targets, possibly DNA.