Effect of various pyrimidines possessing the 1-[(2-hydroxy-1-(hydroxymethyl)ethoxy)methyl] moiety, able to mimic natural 2'-deoxyribose, on wild-type and mutant hepatitis B virus replication.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is the most common cause of chronic liver disease worldwide. Development of drug resistance against clinical anti-HBV drug lamivudine due to long-term use and rebound of viral DNA after cessation of treatment has been a major setback of the current therapy. We have synthesized a series of pyrimidine nucleosides possessing a variety of substituents at the C-5 position, and a 1-[(2-hydroxy-1-(hydroxymethyl)ethoxy)methyl] flexible acyclic glycosyl moiety at the N-1 position, that have the ability to mimic the natural 2'-deoxyribosyl moiety. Some of these potential antiviral compounds included variations at both C-5 and C-6 positions of the uracil base. Other variations of the uracil derivatives were the 6-aza congeners. 4-Amino and 4-methoxy pyrimidine derivatives were also made. Compounds in which the base moiety was substituted by 5-chloro- (25), 5-(2-bromovinyl)- (32), or 5-bromo-6-methyl- (37) groups possess significant activity against duck-HBV, wild-type human HBV (2.2.15 cells), and lamivudine-resistant HBV containing single and double mutations. No cytotoxicity was seen in host HepG2 and Vero cells, up to the highest concentration tested. The anti-HBV activity exhibited by compounds 25, 32, and 37 was superior for human HBV and comparable for DHBV to that of the corresponding purine nucleoside, ganciclovir. Further, they were only 10-15-fold less inhibitory against human HBV in 2.2.15 cells than the reference drug, lamivudine. Other compounds in the series were moderately inhibitory against DHBV and wild-type human HBV. The size of the halogen and the electronegativity of the substituents at the 5- and 6-positions are important for antiviral activity toward HBV. These compounds were also evaluated for their antiviral activity for West Nile virus, respiratory syncytial virus, SARS-coronavirus, and hepatitis C virus. They were generally inactive in these antiviral assay systems (at concentrations up to 100 microg/mL). 1-[(2-Hydroxy-1-(hydroxymethyl) ethoxy)methyl]-5-fluorocytosine (34) showed some inhibitory activity against hepatitis C virus. Taken together, these data support our previous observations that the 5-substituted pyrimidine nucleosides containing acyclic glycosyl moieties have potential to serve as a new generation of potent, selective, and nontoxic anti-HBV agents for wild-type and lamivudine-resistant mutant HBV.