Selective mPGES-1 Inhibitor Ameliorated Adjuvant-Induced Arthritis in the Rat Model

Endogenous prostaglandin E-2 (PGE(2)) plays an important role in maintaining the homeostasis conditions. However, the overexpression of PGE(2) in response to various inflammatory stimulations is an important target of anti-inflammatory drugs. Both inducible COX-2 (cyclooxygenase-2) and mPGES-1 (microsomal prostaglandin E-2 synthase-1) enzymes are responsible for the inflammatory overexpressed PGE(2) production. Among them, mPGES-1 is regarded as a more promising ideal target for anti-inflammatory drugs without the gastrointestinal and cardiovascular side effects. As our continuous research for the discovery of novel mPGES-1 inhibitors, we have characterized MPO-0144 as a selective mPGES-1 inhibitor with a selectivity index of >270 over COX-1 and >25 over COX-2, respectively. Herein, we evaluated the anti-inflammatory effect of MPO-0144 in an adjuvant-induced arthritis rat model. MPO-0144 attenuated the inflammatory responses without severe gastrointestinal side effects and organ toxicities. These overall data suggest a possibility that MPO-0144 downregulates PGE2 production by potent mPGES-1 and weak COX-2 inhibitory activities, thus attenuating the paw swelling in AIA (adjuvant-induced arthritis) rat models. MPO-0144 also exhibited favorable ADMET profiles. However, MPO-0144 did not show any inhibitory effects on human mPGES-1 enzyme at a high concentration. Therefore, MPO-0144 represents a valuable pharmacological tool for the study of regulation of inducible mPGES-1 in an inflammatory arthritis rat model.