ZD-6888

A series of non-peptide angiotensin II receptor antagonists was investigated with the aim of developing a 3D QSAR model using comparative molecular field analysis descriptors and approaches. The main goals of the study were dictated by an interest in methodologies and an understanding of the binding requirements to the AT1 receptor. Consistency with the previously derived activity models was always checked to contemporarily test the validity of the various hypotheses. The specific conformations chosen for the study, the procedures invoked to superimpose all structures, the conditions employed to generate steric and electrostatic field values and the various PCA/PLS runs are discussed in detail. The effect of experimental design techniques to select objects (molecules) and variables (descriptors) with respect to the predictive power of the QSAR models derived was especially analysed.

Male and female Alderley Park rats were treated for 26 wk with ZENECA ZD6888, an angiotensin II (All) antagonist, at doses of 25, 50, and 250 mg/kg/day and the kidneys examined by light and electron microscopy. Nephropathy (tubular degeneration and regeneration), thickening of the basal lamina, mononuclear cell infiltration, and hypertrophy and hyperplasia of the juxtaglomerular apparatus were seen by light microscopy. Ultrastructurally, juxtaglomerular cell granules were increased in number and displayed substantial structural heterogeneity. In some cells, granules contained paracrystalline inclusions while others consisted predominantly of myelinic debris. Evidence ofconversion of arteriolar smooth muscle cells into juxtaglomerular cells and their degeneration was also obtained by electron microscopy. The juxtaglomerular changes were treatment- and dose-related and were attributed to an exaggerated pharmacological action of the compound, that is, ZD6888-mediated blockade of All receptors leading to competitive inhibition of the All-mediated release of renin. The resemblance between the findings seen in the present study following administration of an All antagonist and those due to angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors reported by others was striking.