Fatty Acid‐Derived Pro‐Toxicants of the Rat Selective Toxicant Norbormide |
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Authors: | Hans Choi Daniel Conole Darcy J. Atkinson Olivia Laita Morgan Jay‐Smith Mario Angelo Pagano Giovanni Ribaudo Maurizio Cavalli Sergio Bova Brian Hopkins Margaret A. Brimble David Rennison |
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Affiliation: | 1. School of Chemical Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand;2. Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy;3. Landcare Research, Canterbury Agriculture and Science Centre, Lincoln, New Zealand |
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Abstract: | Norbormide [5‐(α‐hydroxy‐α‐2‐pyridylbenzyl)‐7‐(α‐2‐pyridylbenzylidene)‐5‐norbornene‐2,3‐dicarboximide] (NRB), an existing but infrequently used rodenticide, is known to be uniquely toxic to rats but relatively harmless to other rodents and mammals. However, as an acute vasoactive, NRB has a rapid onset of action which makes it relatively unpalatable to rats, often leading to sublethal uptake and accompanying bait shyness. A series of NRB‐derived pro‐toxicants ( 3a – i , 4a – i , and 5a – i ) were prepared in an effort to ‘mask’ this acute response and improve both palatability and efficacy. Their synthesis, in vitro biological evaluation (vasocontractile response in rat vasculature, stability in selected rat media) and palatability/efficacy in Sprague–Dawley, wild Norway, and wild ship rats is described. Most notably, pro‐toxicant 3d was revealed to be free of all pre‐cleavage vasoconstrictory activity in rat caudal artery and was subsequently demonstrated to release NRB in the presence of rat blood, liver, and pancreatic enzymes. Moreover, it consistently displayed a high level of acceptance by rats in a two‐choice bait‐palatability and efficacy trial, with accompanying high mortality. On this evidence, fatty acid ester prodrugs would appear to offer a promising platform for the further development of NRB‐derived toxicants with enhanced palatability and efficacy profiles. |
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Keywords: | Norbormide Prodrug Rodenticide Rat toxicant Esterase Lipase |
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