Feasibility and Efficacy Study of Biweekly Irinotecan Combined with Oral Tegafur/Uracil in Advanced Colorectal Cancer

Background: We evaluated the feasibility and efficacy of irinotecan (CPT-11) plus tegafur/uracil (UFT) combination chemotherapy in patients with advanced colorectal cancer. Patients and Methods: PK parameters were concurrently measured to confirm the presence of drug interactions in this treatment schedule. CPT-11 was administered intravenously at the dose of 150 mg/m2 on days 1, 15. UFT was administered at the dose of 375 mg/m2/day (B.I.D.) on days 3 - 7, 10 - 14, 17 - 21, 24 - 28 repeated every 5 weeks. Results: 31 patients were enrolled. PK parameters for CPT-11, FT, 5-FU and uracil are available from 5 patients. The overall response rate was 16.1%. The median time to treatment discontinuation was 3.9 months. There was no significant difference in PK parameters of CPT-11 between day 1 and day 15 and of UFT between day 3 and day 10. Conclusion: CPT-11 plus UFT combination chemotherapy exhibited a tolerable toxicity profile with acceptable efficacy. Pharmacokinetic analysis showed that there were no drug interactions in this treatment schedule.

M-Uracil复合物(M=Ca^(2+)和Mg^(2+))特征振动的密度泛函理论分析

采用密度函数理论的B3LYP交换关联能泛函在6-311+G(2df,2p)基组水平上,对Ca2+、Mg2+与尿嘧啶(简称U)三种各互变异构体(简称U1、U2和U3)形成的复合物进行了优化计算,获得稳定复合物的构形,并对这些稳定复合物进行振动频率计算.分析计算结果发现由于离子的参与,单体分子振动的力常数和折合质量均会发生变化,导致红外振动谱线发生不同程度移动;进一步分析发现C-H和O-H键的氢原子作弯曲振动和伸缩振动的谱线移动不确定,直接与离子作用的氧原子参与的振动谱线会发生红移,不直接与离子作用的氧原子参与的振动谱线会发生蓝移.

Synthesis of 1-[(O,O-diphenyl phosphonyl)arylmethyleneamino carbonylmethyl]uracils

A new series of compounds,1-[O,O-diphenyl phosphonyl)arylmethylene aminocarbo-nylmethyl]uracilsm,were synthesized in yield of 54.6-72.0% with DCC/BtOH as the couplingreagent,and their biological activities are being tested.

Structure Based Library Approach to Photosynthesis Inhibitors:The Solid Phase Synthesis of Hydro-Uracils and Thiouracils

A general method for the solid phase synthesis of hydro-uracils and thiouracils is de-scribed. Resino ester 2 reacts with various primary amines to give secondary amines 3, Which are converted to the resino ureas (thioureas) 4 by treatment with isocyanates (isothiocyanates). Preparation of the hydro-uracils and thiouracils 5 is achieved by acidic cyclization-cleavage from the resin. The synthesis is designed to be amenable for structure based library approach to photosys-tem II D1 protein inhibitors.

Tegafur-uracil-induced rapid development of advanced hepatic fibrosis

Tegafur-uracil has been reported to have only minor adverse effects and is associated with liver injury in 1.79% of Japanese patients. The development of tegafur-uracil-induced hepatic fibrosis with portal hypertension is rare. Here, we report a case of a 74-year-old woman with rapidly developing tegafururacil-induced hepatic fibrosis. The patient had no history of liver disease and had been treated with tegafur-uracil for 8 mo after breast cancer surgery. The patient was admitted to our hospital for abdominal distension and leg edema associated with liver dysfunction. Computed tomography imaging revealed massive ascites and splenomegaly, and a non-invasive assessment of liver fibrosis indicated advanced fibrosis. The histopathological findings revealed periportal fibrosis and bridging fibrosis with septation. The massive ascites resolved after discontinuing tegafururacil. These findings suggest that advanced hepatic fibrosis can develop from a relatively short-term administration of tegafur-uracil and that non-invasive assessment is useful for predicting hepatic fibrosis.

A Novel Photoproduct of Uracil in Phosphate-Buffered Saline

The photolysis of uracil in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS, pH 8.0) under the irradiation of medium pressure mercury lamp (MPML) leads to the production of a novel compound C4H5N2O6P. The composition and structure of the compound has been identified by elemental analysis, EI-MS, UV, IR, 1H, 13C, 31P-NMR.

Efficient Utilization of 6-Aminouracil to Synthesize Fused and Related Heterocyclic Compounds and Their Evaluation as Prostate Cytotoxic Agents with Cathepsin B Inhibition

6-aminouracil 1 was utilized to introduce different heterocyclic rings at C-6 position through various synthetic strategies. The synthesized compounds bear rings that are either directly attached to the uracil back bone as in compounds 6, 12a-c and 15, or attached through an amino bridge as compounds 3a-c, 5a, b, 7a, b, 9 and 10, or through an imino bridge as compound 18. Also, compounds 4, 8, 11a-c, 14, 16 and 17 bearing biologically active side chains were synthesized. In addition to, compounds 13, 19, 20, 21 and 22 bear fused rings to the uracil backbone. All synthesized compounds were evaluated for their anticancer activity against prostate PC3 cell line using in-vitro sulforhodamine-B (SRB) method, from which compounds 3a, c, 4, 5a, b, 6, 7a, b, 11a-c, 12a, b, 17 and 20 were the most active. These active compounds were further evaluated for their ability to inhibit cathepsin B enzyme by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, which revealed that compounds 5a, b, 7a, 11a, 12a and 17 exhibited more than 50% inhibition of cathepsin B. Among which the phenyl thiourea derivative 17 was the most active exhibiting 82.3% inhibition, while the reference doxorubicin exerted 18.7% inhibition.

A Case of Advanced Multiple Hepatocellular Carcinomas with Portal Vein Tumor Thrombosis Successfully Treated by Oral Tegafur/Uracil

A case of advanced multiple hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC) with portal vein tumor thrombosis successfully treated by oral tegafur/uracil is reported. A 69-year-old Japanese woman with advanced HCC with tumor thrombosis underwent transcatheter arterial infusion chemotherapy in April 2001. However, 1 year later, the patient experieced a recurrence with advanced multiple HCC with portal vein tumor thrombosis and ascites. Treatment with oral tegafur/uracil was started in May 2002 and resulted in the partial response of liver tumors and the complete improvement of ascites. She remained in good health for about 6 years. This case strongly suggests that oral tegafur/uracil is an effective treatment for some cases of advanced HCC with portal vein tumor thrombosis.

Multicenter Analysis of mFOLFOX6 with Oxaliplatin Stop-and-Go Strategy Using Oral Uracil-Tegafur with Leucovorin for Unresectable Colorectal Cancer in Elderly Patients

Background: This study evaluated the tolerability and efficacy of intermittent oxaliplatin treatment based on mFOLFOX6 using oral uracil-tegafur(UFT) and leucovorin(LV) maintenance therapy in the treatment of elderly patients with advanced colorectal cancer. Methods: Ten non-elderly patients (70 years) with advanced/recurrent colorectal cancer were enrolled in this prospective, multicenter cooperative group clinical trial. The mFOLFOX6 regimen was administered for eight cycles with maintenance therapy with oral UFT/LV treatment until progression. In cases with disease progression, mFOLFOX6 was reintroduced. Results: Grade 2 peripheral neuropathy was noted in 30.0% and 25.0% of the elderly and non-elderly patients, respectively. The observed time to treatment failure (TTF) was 6.3 months in the elderly patients and 6.4 months in the non-elderly patients. The disease control rate was 83.3% in each group. Conclusion: Our new stop-and-go strategy using oral UFT/LV is well-tolerated and effective even in elderly patients.

Quantum-chemical Study on the Structures and Properties of Uracil-BX_3 (X = F,Cl) Complexes

For the uracil-BX3 (X = F, Cl) systems, geometries and binding energies have been calculated by using the Lee-Young-Parr correlation functionals (B3LYP) method of density functional theory (DFT) and the second-order Moller-Plesset (MP2) method of ab initio at the 6- 311+G* or 6-311++G* basis set. Four isomers were found for each system, and then the single-point energy evaluations were performed using the larger basis sets of (6-311+G(2df,p) and aug-cc-pVDZ with DFT method. In the most stable isomer of uracil-BF3 or uracil-BCl3, the boron atom of BX3 (X = F, Cl) connects to the carbonyl oxygen O7 of uracil with a stabilization energy of –46.56 or –31.10 kJ/mol at the B3LYP/6-311+G* level (BSSE corrected). The analyses for combining interaction between BX3 and uracil with the atom-in-molecule theory (AIM) and natural bond orbital method (NBO) have been performed. The results indicate that all isomers were formed with σ-p type interactions between uracil and BX3, in which the carbonyl oxygen offers its lone pair electrons to the empty p orbital of boron atom and the concomitances of charge transfer from uracil to BX3 occur. Moreover, there exists one or two hydrogen bonds in most isomers of uracil-BX3 system and these hydrogen bonds contribute to the stability of the complex systems. Frequency analysis suggests that the stretching vibration of BX3 undergoes a red shift in complexes. Uracil-BF3 complex is more stable than uracil-BCl3 although the distance of B–O is shorter in the latter. Besides, the conversion mechanisms between different isomers of uracil-BF3 have been obtained.

Biochemical Characterization of Uracil-DNA Glycosylase from Pyrococcus furiosus

We report the characterization of a uracil-DNA glycosylase(UDG) from the hyperthermophilic archaea Pyrococcus furiosus(P.furiosus).P.furiosus UDG(PfUDG) has high sequence similarity to the families IV and V UDGs(thermostable UDG family and PaUDG-b family).PfUDG excises uracil from various DNA substrates with the following order:U/T≈U/C>U/G≈U/AP≈U/->U/U≈U/I≈U/A.The optimal temperature and pH value for uracil excision by PfUDG are 70 °C and 9.0,respectively.The removal of U is inhibited by the divalent ions of Fe,Ca,Zn,Cu,Co,Ni and Mn,as well as a high concentration of NaCl.The phosphorothioates near uracil strongly inhibit the excision of uracil by PfUDG.Interestingly,pfuDNA(Pyrococcus furiosus DNA) polymerase,which tightly binds the uracil-carrying oligonucleotide,does not inhibit the excision by PfUDG,suggesting PfUDG in vivo functions as the repair enzyme to excise uracil damage in genome.

Chemotherapy with enteric-coated tegafur/uracil for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide, including Japan. Although the development of imaging modalities has made the early diagnosis of HCC possible, surgically resectable cases are relatively uncommon because of hepatic function reserve and/or an advanced stage at presentation. Several modalities, such as transcatheter arterial chemoembolization, percutaneous ethanol injection, microwave coagulation therapy and radiofrequency ablation are reportedly useful in treating patients with non-resectable disease. However, unfortunately, many HCC patients have tumor recurrence. The overall prognosis of patients with HCC is very poor, and treatment of the advanced form is still problematic. In this article, we review the clinical efficacy and toxicity of enteric-coated tegafur/uracil in the treatment of patients with advanced non-resectable HCC.

The facile synthetic method of 5-hydroxymethyluracil

为 5-hydroxymethyluracil 的准备的一个实际、工业的过程被开发了。这个方法有灵巧的操作，低费用和稳定的产量的优点。

Regiospecific Addition of Uracil to Acrylates Catalyzed by Alkaline Protease from Bacillus subtilis

Michael addition reactions of uracil to acrylates were catalyzed by an alkaline protease from Bacillus subtilis in dimethyl sulfoxide at 55 ℃ for 72 h. The adducts were determined by TLC, IR and 1H NMR.

Study of proton radiolysis of solid uracil film

In order to understand the molecules mechanism of ion irradiation,which has been widely used in many fields such as cancer therapy,uracil,one of the bases of nucleic acid.was chosen in the low energy ion radiolysis research.The solid uracil films with mass thickness of 0.314mg/cm^2 were irradiated by 200keV H^+ ions .The experimental results show that 200keV H^+ ions are effective in decomposition of uracil molecules.One of the decomposition products,5,6-dihydro-uracil,was separated by high performance liquid chromatograph (HPLC) and detected using an UV-light detector.Its yield increases first but then decreases as the ion dose increasing.In addition,the mechanism of uracil decomposition and 5,6-dihydro-uracil formation was also disucssed.

Synthesis of Novel Nucleoside Analog (3R)-2,3-Dideoxy-3- (N-hydroxy-N-methylamino)-L-arabinofuranosyl Uracil

The synthesis of novel nucleoside analog (3R)-2,3-dideoxy-3-(N-hydroxy-N-methylamino)-L-arabinofuranosyl uracil was studied. A twelve-step synthetic route, started from L-ascorbic acid, was designed, and the final product was obtained in 20.8% yield.

The Benzoylation of 6-Methyluracil and 5-Nitro-6-methyluracil

Methyluracil and 5-nitro-6-methyluracil react with variable molar quantities of benzoyl chloride in acetonitrile-pyridine at room temperature to give 1-N, 3-N-dibenzoyl-6- methyluracil 3b and 1-N-benzoyl-5-nitro-6-methyluracil 4b. The reactive rates of debenzoylation of 3b and 4b were investigated.