Synthesis of a hypoxia-targeted conjugate of the cardioprotective agent 3',4'-dihydroxyflavonol and evaluation of its ability to reduce ischaemia/reperfusion injury.

3',4'-Dihydroxyflavonol (DiOHF) is a cardioprotective flavonol that reduces injury associated with myocardial ischaemia and reperfusion. We hypothesized that the efficacy of DiOHF could be enhanced through its targeting to hypoxic regions of partial reperfusion. Copper(I)-catalyzed ligation of an azide-modified DiOHF analogue to 2-propargyl-nitroimidazole afforded a DiOHF-nitroimidazole conjugate (DiOHF-NIm). When incubated with Con8 cells under normoxic conditions DiOHF-NIm could be detected in both the culture supernatant and cell lysate, whereas under hypoxic conditions it was present in substantially reduced amounts consistent with its selective metabolism under hypoxia. DiOHF-NIm possessed antioxidant activity comparable to DiOHF through scavenging of superoxide produced by NADPH/NADPH oxidase, but had significantly attenuated vasorelaxant activity. DiOHF-NIm treatment significantly reduced lactate dehydrogenase release following ischaemia/reperfusion in hindlimbs of anaesthetized rats (p <0.05), to a level similar to DiOHF treatment but also at earlier time points. DiOHF-NIm significantly reduced levels of myeloperoxidase (p <0.05), a biomarker of neutrophil accumulation, whereas the reduction afforded by DiOHF was not significant. DiOHF-NIm therefore represents a promising potential therapeutic for ischaemia/reperfusion injury.