The lipophilic nature of allopregnanolone prevents its user-friendly application in human medicine. On inspiration by previously prepared allopregnanolone with a 16alpha-bound tetraethylammonium salt, an attempt was made to produce allopregnanolone analogues with polar groups introduced into position 16alpha with the goal of increasing water solubility, brain accessibility, and potency of neuroactive steroids. The Michael addition to derivatives of pregn-16-en-20-one was the key reaction step. The link between the steroid skeleton and the new side chain was either a methylene group (when diethyl malonate was added) or an oxygen atom (when a hydroxy derivative was added). [(35)S]TBPS displacement was used to evaluate the products. Several carbamates (but not their parent alcohols) displaced TBPS from the picrotoxin binding site on GABA(A) receptors. Although none of them was more potent than the above ammonium salt, which stimulated this study, their nonionic nature should not prevent their passage into the brain.
- MeSH
- Financing, Organized MeSH
- GABA Modulators pharmacology chemical synthesis MeSH
- Rats MeSH
- Brain metabolism MeSH
- Rats, Wistar MeSH
- Pregnanolone analogs & derivatives pharmacology chemical synthesis MeSH
- Radioligand Assay MeSH
- Receptors, GABA-A metabolism MeSH
- Structure-Activity Relationship MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Check Tag
- Rats MeSH
- Male MeSH
- Animals MeSH
