Syntheses, calcium channel agonist-antagonist modulation activities, nitric oxide release, and voltage-clamp studies of 2-nitrooxyethyl 1,4-dihydro- 2,6-dimethyl-3-nitro-4-(2-trifluoromethylphenyl)pyridine-5-carboxylate enantiomers.

The novel (-)-(S)-2 and (+)-(R)-3 enantiomers of 2-nitrooxyethyl 1,4-dihydro-2,6-dimethyl-3-nitro-4-(2-trifluoromethylphenyl)pyridine-5-carboxylate were synthesized for evaluation as calcium channel modulators. Determination of their in vitro calcium-channel-modulating activities using guinea pig left atria (GPLA) and ileum longitudinal smooth muscle (GPILSM) showed that the (-)-(S)-2 enantiomer acted as a dual cardioselective calcium channel agonist (GPLA)/smooth muscle selective calcium channel antagonist (GPILSM). In contrast, the (+)-(R)-3 enantiomer exhibited calcium channel antagonist activity on both GPLA and GPILSM. The 2-nitrooxyethyl racemate is a nitric oxide (.NO) donor that released 2.7% .NO, relative to the reference drug glyceryl trinitrate (5.3% .NO release/ONO(2) moiety), in the presence of N-acetylcysteamine. Whole-cell voltage-clamp studies using isolated guinea pig ventricular myocytes indicated that both enantiomers inhibit calcium current but that the (-)-(S)-2 enantiomer is a weaker antagonist than the (+)-(R)-3 enantiomer. These results indicate that replacement of the methyl ester substituent of (-)-(S)-methyl 1,4-dihydro-2,6-dimethyl-3-nitro-4-(2-trifluoromethylphenyl)pyridine-5-carboxylate [(-)-(S)-1] by the 2-nitrooxyethyl ester .NO donor substituent present in (-)-(S)-2 provides a useful drug design concept to abolish the contraindicated calcium channel agonist effect of (-)-(S)-1 on vascular smooth muscle. The novel (-)-(S)-2 enantiomer is a useful lead compound for drug discovery targeted toward the treatment of congestive heart failure, and it provides a useful probe to study the structure-function relationships of calcium channels.