Design, Synthesis and Pharmacological Evaluation of Novel NO-Releasing Benzimidazole Hybrids as Potential Antihypertensive Candidate.

Two series of novel NO-releasing benzimidazole derivatives ( 8a- e, 9a- g) were designed and synthesized by coupling nitro ester and furoxan NO-donor moieties with benzimidazole biphenyl skeleton. The NO-releasing assay indicated that all the target compounds had different level of NO-releasing ability. Furthermore, the isolated organ assay (rat aortic strips) was used to evaluate the antagonism of Ang II-induced vasoconstriction ability. It was observed that the pA2 values of compounds 8e and 9e were better than that of lead compound 6. Moreover, the pharmacological investigation showed that the antagonism of Ang II-induced pressure response by oral administration of compound 8e was obviously superior to that of lead compound 6, and comparable to that of the positive control losartan. These results suggested that NO-releasing hybrids may provide a promising approach for the discovery of novel antihypertensive agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]