Effects of alkyl substitutions of xanthine skeleton on bronchodilation

Structure-activity relationships in a series of 1,3,7-trialkyl-xanthine were studied with guinea pigs. Relaxant actions in the tracheal muscle were increased with alkyl chain length at the 1- and 3-positions of the xanthine skeleton, but decreased by alkylation at the 7-position. Positive chronotropic actions in the right atrium were potentiated with 3-alkyl chain length but tended to decrease with 1-alkylation and diminish by 7-substitution. Consequently, while the 1- and 3-substitutions were equally important for the tracheal smooth muscle relaxation, the substitution at the 1-position was more important than the 3-substitution for bronchoselectivity. The 7-alkylation may be significant to cancel heart stimulation. There were good correlations between the smooth muscle relaxant action and the cyclic AMP-PDE inhibitory activity in 3-substituents and the affinity for adenosine (A1) receptors in 1-, 3-, and 7-substituents. This suggests that not only the cyclic AMP-PDE inhibitory activity but also the adenosine antagonistic activity is important in the bronchodilatory effects of alkylxanthines. Among these xanthine derivatives, 1-butyl-3-propylxanthine and its 7-methylated derivative showed high bronchoselectivity in the in vitro and in vivo experiments compared to theophylline and enprofylline and may be new candidates for bronchodilator.