ANTIDIABETIC AGENT

Abstract: The invention relates to the use of a compound represented by formula (I): wherein R represents an imidazolyl group, a thiazolyl group or a pyridyl group; n represents 1 or 2; and m represents an integer of from 1 to 4, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof for preparing a pharmaceutical composition for treating diabetes.

Description: This invention relates to the use of a compound represented by formula (I): wherein R represents an imidazolyl group, a thiazolyl group or a pyridyl group; n represents 1 or 2; and m represents an integer of from 1 to 4, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof for preparing a pharmaceutical composition for lowering the blood sugar level in diabetes. The compounds of formula (I) are known to inhibit the synthesis of thromboxane A₂ and have therapeutic effects on ischemic heart diseases (U.S. Patent No. 4,665,188), but unknown for its antidiabetic effects. (E)-3-(4-(1-Imidazolylmethyl)phenyl)propenoic acid hydrochloride is known to inhibit the synthesis of thromboxane A₂. This compound was orally administered to diabetic test animals, however, the effect obtained was not satisfactory for the treatment (Abstract of the 27th Congress of the Japanese Society of Nephrology 196, (1984)). Barnett et al disclosed in "THE LANCET, (1984) pp 1322-1325 the use of the thromboxane synthetase inhibitor UK 38 485, which is an indole derivative of the formula for treating insulin-dependent diabetes. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The inventors have conducted extensive research to find out compounds having antidiabetic effects. As a result, it has now been found that the compounds represented by formula (I) exhibit the above-described effects, thus reaching the present invention. This invention relates to the use of a compound represented by formula (I) or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof for preparing an antidiabetic pharmaceutical composition, for lowering the blood sugar level. Preferably 6-(1-imidazolylmethyl)- 5,6,7,8-tetrahydronaphthalene-2-carboxylic acid is used. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Pharmaceutically acceptable salts of the compound of formula (I) include acid addition salts formed with inorganic acids, e.g., hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, and nitric acid, or organic acids, e.g., fumaric acid, tartaric acid, maleic acid, succinic acid and oxalic acid, and salts formed from a carboxyl group and an alkali metal, e.g., sodium, and potassium, or an alkaline earth metal, e.g., calcium and magnesium. The compounds of formula (I) and salts thereof proved highly safe on examination of acute toxicity (LD₅₀) in oral administration or intravenous injection to rats. The compound of formula (I) or a salt thereof can be formulated into various pharmaceutical preparations, such as tablets, powders, capsules, and injectable solutions, according to known pharmaceutical techniques and is usually administered orally or intravenously. The dose level of the compound of formula (I) or a salt thereof generally ranges from 50 to 1000 mg/day for adult (body weight: about 50 to 60 kg) in oral administration. The compound of formula (I) or a salt thereof experimentally exhibited excellent antidiabetic effects such as, hypoglycemic activity and improvement of glucose tolerance in a diabetic model such as streptozotocin-induced diabetic spontaneous hypertensive rats, and also exhibited no significant side effect in case of long term oral administration. Therefore, the compound of formula (I) or a salt thereof is useful as an diabetic agent. The present invention is now illustrated in greater detail with reference to the following Test Example and Reference Example, but it should be understood that the present invention is not limited thereto. TEST EXAMPLE 1 Efficacy in Diabetic Model Test Animal: 5-Week old spontaneous hypertensive male rats (SHR), available from Nippon Charles River, were used. Streptozotocin (STZ) was dissolved in a 0.1M citrate buffer solution (pH 4.5) and injected to the tail vein of the rats at a dose level of 50 mg/kg to prepare diabetic rats. For control, rats received 1 ml/kg of the citrate buffer solution alone through administration, to the tail vein. After one week from the STZ administration, blood was taken from the tail vein of the unanesthetized rats, and the blood sugar level was determined. Those rats having a blood sugar level of 300 mg/dl or higher were used as diabetic rats. Administration of Drug: 6-(1-Imidazolylmethyl)-5,6,7,8-tetrahydronaphthalene-2-carboxylic acid hydrochloride hemihydrate hereinafter referred to as Compound A) was dissolved in distilled water and administered orally to the test animals at a dose level of 1 mg/kg/day or 10 mg/kg/day for consecutive 5 months from one week after the administration of STZ or a citrate buffer solution. Determination of Blood Sugar Level Just before the administration of Compound A, blood was sampled from the tail vein of the rats without any restriction of diet to determine the blood sugar level using a commercial glucose assay kit (Trade name: New Blood Sugar Test, produced by Boehringer Mannheim Co., Ltd., West Germany). The result was shown in Table 1, as expressed as mean ± S.E.. Determination of Glucose Tolerance After 3 months from the start of the administration of Compound A, the rats were fasted for 18 hours. Glucose was administered orally to the rats at a dose level of 2 g/kg. Blood was sampled from the tail vein of the rats just before the administration of glucose, at 1 hour and 2 hours after the administration to determine the blood sugar level using the above method. The result was shown in Table 2, as expressed as mean ± S.E.. Result As apparent from Table 1, Compound A exhibited a tendency to lower the high blood sugar level of the diabetic SHR from 2 weeks after the start of the administration of Compound A, and lowered significantly the blood sugar level at 8 weeks after the start of the administration of Compound A. However, the blood sugar level in SHR was not affected by the administration of Compound A. Therefore, it was confirmed that Compound A lowered the high blood sugar level in diabetic animals. Effect on Glucose Tolerance Sampling Time Blood Sugar Level (mg/dl) Dosage of Compound A (mg/kg/day) 0 (n=7) 1 (n=7) 10 (n=8) Just Before the Glucose load 178.5 ± 32.8 136.8 ± 19.0 105.1 ± 5.7 1 Hour after Glucose load 329.5 ± 34.9 255.4 ± 19.7 202.4 ± 15.7 2 Hour after Glucose load 280.8 ± 41.9 167.3 ± 17.5 137.1 ± 5.9 As apparent from Table 2, Compound A improved the glucose torelance in the diabetic SHR. TEST EXAMPLE 2 Acute toxicities of Compund A in rats through oral administration or intravenous injection were as follows. According to the above formulation, the tablet containing Compound A was prepared by usual pharmaceutical techniques.

Claims: The use of a compound represented by formula (I): wherein R represents an imidazolyl group, a thiazolyl group or a pyridyl group; n represents 1 or 2; and m represents an integer of from 1 to 4, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof for preparing a pharmaceutical composition for lowering the blood sugar level in diabetes. The use according to claim 1, wherein the compound of formula (I) is 6-(1-imidazolylmethyl)-5,6,7,8-tetrahydronaphthalene-2-carboxylic acid.

Inventors: ASHIDA, SHINICHIRO C/O DAIICHI SEIYAKU, MASUMURA, HIDEMI C/O DAIICHI SEIYAKU CO., LTD, SAKUMA, KYOKO C/O DAIICHI SEIYAKU
Applicants: DAIICHI PHARMACEUTICAL CO., LTD.
Application year: 1988
Main classification: A61K31
IPC codes: A61K31, C07D233