3-[2-(3-Ethoxy-3-oxopropoxy)ethoxy]propionic Acid

PAR-5359, 3-(4-{2-[4-(4-Chloro-phenyl)-3,6-dihydro-2H-pyridin-1-yl]-ethoxy}-phenyl)-2-ethoxypropionic acid, is a well-balanced PPARalpha/gamma dual agonist with the excellent antihyperglycemic and hypolipidemic activities. A reliable, selective and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry was developed for the determination of PAR-5359 in rat plasma. PAR-5359 was twice extracted from rat plasma using methyl tert-butyl ether at neutral pH. The analytes were separated on an Allure Biphenyl column with the mobile phase of 78% methanol in 10 mM ammonium formate (pH 3.0) and detected by tandem mass spectrometry in the selective reaction monitoring mode. The calibration curve was linear (r = 0.9993) over the concentration range of 2.00-1000.0 ng/mL and the lower limit of quantification was 2.00 ng/mL using 50 microL plasma sample. The coefficient of variation and relative error at four QC levels were 1.2 to 12.3% and -2.5 to 6.3%, respectively. The present method was successfully applied to the pharmacokinetic study of PAR-5359 after oral dose of PAR-5359 at a dose of 1 mg/kg to male SD rats.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) alpha and gamma are key regulators of lipid homeostasis and insulin resistance. In this study, we characterize the pharmacological profiles of PAR-5359, a dual agonist of PPARalpha and gamma with well-balanced activities. In transient transactivation assay, PAR-5359 (3-(4-(2[4-(4chloro-phenyl)-3,6-dihydro-2H-pyridin-1-yl]-ethoxy)-phenyl)-(2S)-ethoxy-propionic acid) significantly activated human and mouse PPARalpha and gamma without activating PPARdelta. In functional assays using human mesenchymal stem cells and human hepatoma HepG2 cells, PAR-5359 significantly induced adipocyte differentiation and human ApoA1 secretion, which coincided with its transactivation potencies against the corresponding human receptor subtypes. Interestingly, PAR-5359 showed equivalent potencies against the mouse receptor subtypes (alpha and gamma; 2.84 microM and 3.02 microM, respectively), which suggests the possibility that PAR-5359 could simultaneously activates each subtype of receptors subtype in under physiological conditions. In an insulin-resistant ob/ob mouse model, PAR-5359 significantly reduced plasma insulin levels, improved insulin sensitivity (HOMA-IR), and completely normalized plasma glucose levels. In a severe diabetic db/db mouse model, PAR-5359 dose-dependently reduced the plasma levels of glucose (ED(30) = 0.07 mg/kg). Furthermore, it lowered plasma levels of non HDL- (ED(30) = 0.13 mg/kg) and total cholesterol (ED(30) = 0.03 mg/kg) in high cholesterol diet-fed rats for 4 days treatment. These results suggest that PAR-5359 has the balanced activities for PPARalpha and PPARgamma in vivo as well as in vitro. And its balanced activities may render PAR-5359 as a pharmacological tool in elucidating the complex roles of PPARalpha/gamma dual agonists.