Development of a Fluorescent-Labeled Trapping Reagent to Detect Reactive Acyl Glucuronides

Acyl glucuronides are common metabolites of carboxylic acid-containing compounds. Since acyl glucuronides sometimes show high reactivity, they are considered to be involved in drug toxicity. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the risk posed by acyl glucuronides in the development of safe drugs; however, there are no suitable evaluation methods for the early stages of drug discovery. We aimed to develop a trapping reagent that detects reactive acyl glucuronides to assess their risk. We designed a diamine-structured trapping reagent, Dap-Dan, and compared its trapping ability with the reported one that has an amino group, and results showed that Dap-Dan showed higher accuracy. In the trapping assay with 17 medicines containing a carboxylic acid, Dap-Dan trapped acyl glucuronides that had a higher risk of toxicity. In conclusion, Dap-Dan can be useful for evaluating the risk of reactive acyl glucuronides.