ANTIBACTERIAL AGENT

Information

  • Patent Application
  • 20160143878
  • Publication Number
    20160143878
  • Date Filed
    February 08, 2016
    8 years ago
  • Date Published
    May 26, 2016
    8 years ago
Abstract
An antibacterial agent comprising a compound represented by the following general formula (I), which can exhibit potent antibacterial activity against bacteria that have acquired resistance to quinolones (in the formula, R1 and R4 represents hydrogen atom, hydroxyl group, or a lower alkoxy group; R2 and R3 represents hydrogen atom or hydroxyl group; R5 represents hydrogen atom, a lower cyclic alkyl group, or a lower alkoxy group; R1′ and R5′ represents hydrogen atom; R2′ and R3′ represents hydrogen atom, hydroxyl group, or a lower alkoxy group; and R4′ represents hydrogen atom or hydroxyl group).
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an antibacterial agent comprising a flavone compound as an active ingredient. More specifically, the present invention relates to an antibacterial agent that exhibits a potent antibacterial activity against microorganisms that have acquired resistance to quinolones.


BACKGROUND ART

Quinolones are synthetic antibacterial agents that inhibit the activity of DNA gyrase to inhibit religation of cleaved DNA strands, thereby causing the DNA replication failure, and eventually inhibit DNA synthesis of bacteria. They have been widely used as drugs or animal drugs.


As compounds having an action similar to that of quinolones, several flavones have been reported, and those flavones have an inhibitory action against the DNA gyrase of Escherichia coli (see, Non-patent documents 1 and 2). However, in the aforementioned reports, it has been demonstrated that the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of the aforementioned flavones for Staphylococcus aureus are 62.5 mg/L or higher, and thus they do not show antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus.


As for Staphylococcus aureus, there are continuously increasing multiply antibiotic-resistant strains, of which typical example is the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) that acquired resistance to β-lactam antibacterial agents. It is no exaggeration to say that there is no hospital where MRSA does not exist, and it poses a serious clinical problem.


As an only antibacterial agent that has long maintained its effectiveness to multiply antibiotic-resistant MRSA, vancomycin is available. However, the inventors of the present invention found vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus (VISA) in 1996 to which vancomycin therapy was ineffective (see, Non-patent document 3). Since then, VISA has been found in various countries in the world so far to date. Moreover, vancomycin-resistant S. aureus (VRSA), which is MRSA highly resistant to vancomycin, was found in the U.S. in 2003, and at present, 9 strains in total have been reported from three countries; i.e., the U.S., Iran, and India (see, Non-patent document 4).


Mu50, which is a typical strain of VISA (see, Non-patent document 3), is resistant to, for example, quinolone, β-lactam, tetracycline, minocycline, aminoglycoside, macrolide, rifampicin, glycopeptide, and the like. It is also reported that almost all the VISA strains separated in various countries in the world exhibit similar multiple resistance.


Therefore, development of new antibacterial agents that show superior antibacterial activity against multiply antibiotic-resistant bacteria is strongly desired, and also as for quinolones, development of new antibacterial agents that show superior antibacterial activity against quinolone-resistant Staphylococcus aureus including the aforementioned MRSA, VISA, and VRSA as well as other quinolone-resistant Gram-positive bacteria is strongly desired.


It is understood that the resistance against quinolones is acquired through introduction of a mutation at a specific position of gyrase as the target enzyme of quinolones, which reduces the gyrase inhibitory action of quinolones. As an antibacterial agent effective to such a mutated gyrase, nybomycin is known (Non-patent document 5). Although the antibacterial activity of nybomycin against quinolone-susceptible bacteria is weak, nybomycin shows notably potent antibacterial activity against bacteria that have acquired resistance to quinolones (resistant bacteria having a gyrase including a mutation such as Ser84Leu) (Non-patent document 5). Further, it has also been reported that reversion occurs in gyrase in bacteria, that have acquired resistance to nybomycin, and they become susceptible to quinolones (Non-patent document 5).


If an antibacterial agent that has the property as mentioned above can be newly provided, it can be used in combination with a quinolone so that bacteria that have acquired resistance to the quinolone are effectively eliminated by the antibacterial agent, and at the same time, bacteria that have acquired resistance to the antibacterial agent can be eliminated with the quinolone, and therefore it is expected that an extremely effective treatment of infectious diseases can be achieved with preventing emergence of new resistant bacteria.


PRIOR ART REFERENCES
Non-Patent Documents



  • Non-patent document 1: Ohemeng K. A., Podlogar B. L., Nguyen V. N., Bernstein J. I., Krause H. M., Hilliard J. J., Barrett J. F., J. Med. Chem., 1997 Sep. 26; 40(20), pp. 3292-3296

  • Non-patent document 2: Hilliard J. J., Krause H. M., Bernstein J. I., Fernandez J. A., Nguyen V., Ohemeng K. A., Barrett J. F., Adv. Exp. Med. Biol., 1995, 390, pp. 59-69

  • Non-patent document 3: Hiramatsu, K., Hanaki H., et al., J. Antimicrob. Chemother., 1997, 40(1), 135-136

  • Non-patent document 4: Perichon B., Courvalin P., Antimicrob. Agents Chemother., 2009, November; 53(11), 4580-7, Epub 2009 Jun. 8

  • Non-patent document 5: Hiramatsu K. et al., Int. J. Antimicrob. Agents, 2012, 39(6), pp. 478-485



SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Object to be Achieved by the Invention

An object of the present invention is to provide an antibacterial agent that has a potent antibacterial activity against bacteria with acquired resistance to quinolones. More specifically, the object of the present invention is to provide a novel antibacterial agent that has a potent antibacterial activity against bacteria with acquired resistance to quinolones through introduction of a mutation into gyrase. Another object of the present invention is to provide an antibacterial agent that can prevent emergence of resistant bacteria when it is used in combination with a quinolone.


Means for Achieving the Object

In order to achieve the aforementioned objects, the inventors of the present invention conducted extensive studies. As a result, they found that flavone compounds represented by the following general formula (I) had a potent antibacterial activity against bacteria that had acquired resistance to quinolones, and that they had a potent antibacterial activity against bacteria that had acquired resistance to quinolones through introduction of a mutation into gyrase. They also found that by combining the compounds with a quinolone, an antibacterial agent that can prevent emergence of resistant bacteria is successfully provided. The present invention was accomplished on the basis of these findings.


The present invention thus provides an antibacterial agent for use in a prophylactic and/or therapeutic treatment of an infectious disease caused by a bacterium that has acquired resistance to quinolones, which comprises, as an active ingredient, a compound represented by the following general formula (I):




embedded image


wherein, R1 represents hydrogen atom, hydroxyl group, or a lower alkoxy group; R2 represents hydrogen atom or hydroxyl group; R3 represents hydrogen atom or hydroxyl group; R4 represents hydrogen atom, hydroxyl group, or a lower alkoxy group; R5 represents hydrogen atom, a lower cyclic alkyl group, or a lower alkoxy group; R1′ represents hydrogen atom; R2′ represents hydrogen atom, hydroxyl group, or a lower alkoxy group; R3′ represents hydrogen atom, hydroxyl group, or a lower alkoxy group; R4′ represents hydrogen atom or hydroxyl group; and R5′ represents hydrogen atom.


According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided the aforementioned antibacterial agent, wherein R1 is hydrogen atom, hydroxyl group, or methoxy group, R4 is hydrogen atom, hydroxyl group, or methoxy group, W is hydrogen atom, cyclopropyl group, or methoxy group, R2′ is hydrogen atom, hydroxyl group, or methoxy group, and R3′ is hydrogen atom, hydroxyl group, or methoxy group.


As other aspects of the present invention, there are provided an inhibitor against a DNA gyrase of a quinolone-resistant bacterium, which comprises a compound represented by the aforementioned general formula (I) as an active ingredient, and a therapeutic agent for an infectious disease caused by a quinolone-resistant bacterium, which comprises a compound represented by the aforementioned general formula (I) as an active ingredient.


There are also provided a therapeutic agent for an infectious disease, which is used for suppressing emergence and/or proliferation of a quinolone-resistant bacterium, and comprises a compound represented by the aforementioned general formula (I) as an active ingredient, and a therapeutic agent for an infectious disease, which is used in a therapeutic treatment of an infectious disease using a quinolone for suppressing emergence and/or proliferation of a quinolone-resistant bacterium, and comprises a compound represented by the aforementioned general formula (I) as an active ingredient.


As a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a medicament for a prophylactic and/or therapeutic treatment of an infectious disease, which comprises a combination of the aforementioned antibacterial agent and a quinolone. This medicament can be used as a medicament for suppressing emergence and/or proliferation of a quinolone-resistant bacterium. The aforementioned medicament may be a medicament comprising a combination of the aforementioned antibacterial agent and the quinolone as separate unit dosage forms, or may be a medicament that comprises the aforementioned antibacterial agent and the quinolone in a single dosage form.


There are also provided use of a compound represented by the aforementioned general formula (I) for manufacture of the aforementioned antibacterial agent; a method for a prophylactic and/or therapeutic treatment of an infectious disease of a mammal including human caused by a bacterium that has acquired resistance to quinolones, which comprises the step of administrating a prophylactically and/or therapeutically effective amount of a compound represented by the aforementioned general formula (I) to the mammal; and the aforementioned method, which comprises the step of administrating a prophylactically and/or therapeutically effective amount of a quinolone to the mammal simultaneously with or separately from the compound represented by the aforementioned general formula (I).


Effect of the Invention

According to the present invention, there is provided an antibacterial agent that can show potent antibacterial activity against quinolone-resistant bacteria. The action of the antibacterial agent of the present invention is similar to the action of nybomycin, and the agent can exhibit notably potent antibacterial activity against bacteria that have acquired resistance to quinolones (resistant bacteria containing a gyrase having a mutation such as Ser84Leu), although the antibacterial activity thereof against bacteria susceptible to quinolones is weak. Further, in a bacterium that has acquired resistance to the antibacterial agent of the present invention, reverse mutation occurs in the gyrase, and thus it becomes susceptible to quinolones. Therefore, with a combination of the antibacterial agent of the present invention and a quinolone, bacteria that have acquired resistance to quinolones are effectively eliminated with the antibacterial agent of the present invention, and at the same time, bacteria that have acquired resistance to the antibacterial agent of the present invention can be eliminated with the quinolone, and thus an extremely effective treatment of infectious diseases can be achieved by the prevention of emergence of new resistant bacteria. Accordingly, the medicament of the present invention comprising a combination of the antibacterial agent of the present invention and a quinolone is useful for a prophylactic and/or therapeutic treatment of an infectious disease caused by either one or both of a quinolone-susceptible bacterium and a quinolone-resistant bacterium, and it can attain high prophylactic and/or therapeutic effect by preventing emergence of quinolone-resistant bacteria.





BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS


FIG. 1 shows the results of the DNA cleavage assay performed with GyrA(wt) and GyrB(wt) in the absence or presence of levofloxacin (LVFX). “S” represents a substrate plasmid DNA having a superhelix structure, “L” represents linear double-stranded DNA formed by cleavage of the aforementioned substrate plasmid DNA with the DNA gyrase, and “N” represents double-stranded DNA in which one strand of the double-stranded substrate plasmid DNA was cleaved by the DNA gyrase.



FIG. 2 shows the results of the DNA cleavage assay performed with GyrA(wt) and GyrB(wt) in the absence or presence of apigenin. “S”, “L”, and “N” have the same meanings as those explained for FIG. 1.



FIG. 3 shows the results of the DNA cleavage assay performed with GyrA(S84L) and GyrB(wt) in the absence or presence of levofloxacin (LVFX). “S”, “L”, and “N” have the same meanings as those explained for FIG. 1.



FIG. 4 shows the results of the DNA cleavage assay performed with GyrA(S84L) and GyrB(wt) in the absence or presence of apigenin. “S”, “L”, and “N” have the same meanings as those explained for FIG. 1.





MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

In this specification, the term “lower” means a carbon number of about 1 to 6, preferably a carbon number of 1 to 4.


Examples of the lower cyclic alkyl group include, for example, cyclopropyl group, cyclobutyl group, cyclopentyl group, cyclohexyl group, and the like, and cyclopropyl group is preferred. On the ring of the lower cyclic alkyl group, one or two or more of lower alkyl groups such as methyl group, lower alkoxy groups such as methoxy group, hydroxyl groups, or halogen atoms such as fluorine atom may substitute.


Examples of the lower alkoxy group include methoxy group, ethoxy group, propoxy group, and the like, and methoxy group is preferred. The lower alkoxy group may have a substituent. Type, number, and substituting position of the substituent are not particularly limited, and when there are two or more substituents, they may be the same or different. Examples of the substituent of the lower alkoxy group include, for example, a halogen atom, hydroxyl group, cyano group, and the like, but it is not limited to these.


When the compounds represented by the general formula (I) form a salt, a physiologically acceptable salt may be used as the active ingredient of the antibacterial agent of the present invention. Further, a hydrate or solvate of the compounds represented by the general formula (I) or a salt thereof can also be used as the active ingredient. Although type of the solvent that forms the solvate is not particularly limited, examples include, for example, ethanol, ethyl acetate, acetone, and the like. The compounds represented by general formula (I) may exist as an enantiomer, diastereoisomer, or geometrical isomer depending on type of the substituent. An arbitrary isomer in pure form or a mixture of arbitrary isomers can be used as the active ingredient of the antibacterial agent of the present invention.


Preferred examples of the compounds represented by the general formula (I) include 3,3′,4′,5,7-pentahydroxyflavone hydrate (compound 1 mentioned in Table 11, the compound wherein R1 is hydroxyl group, R2 is hydroxyl group, R3 is hydrogen atom, R4 is hydroxyl group, R5 is hydrogen atom, R1′ is hydrogen atom, R2′ is hydroxyl group, R3′ is hydroxyl group, R4′ is hydrogen atom, and R5′ is hydrogen atom, also referred to as quercetin dihydrate), 3,4′,5,7-tetrahydroxyflavone hydrate (compound 4 mentioned in Table 11, the compound wherein R1 is hydroxyl group, R2 is hydroxyl group, R3 is hydrogen atom, R4 is hydroxyl group, R5 is hydrogen atom, R1′ is hydrogen atom, R2′ is hydrogen atom, R3′ is hydroxyl group, R4′ is hydrogen atom, and R5′ is hydrogen atom, also referred to as kaempferol hydrate), 3,5,7-trihydroxy-2-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-8-methoxychromen-4-one (compound 38 mentioned in Table 11, the compound wherein R1 is hydroxyl group, R2 is hydroxyl group, R3 is hydrogen atom, R4 is hydroxyl group, R5 is methoxy group, R1′ is hydrogen atom, R2′ is methoxy group, R3′ is hydroxyl group, R4′ is hydrogen atom, and R5′ is hydrogen atom, also referred to as limocitrin), 3′,4′,5,7-tetrahydroxyflavone (compound 6 mentioned in Table 11, the compound wherein R1 is hydrogen atom, R2 is hydroxyl group, R3 is hydrogen atom, R4 is hydroxyl group, R5 is hydrogen atom, R1′ is hydrogen atom, R2′ is hydroxyl group, R3′ is hydroxyl group, R4′ is hydrogen atom, and R5′ is hydrogen atom, also referred to as luteolin), 4′,5,7-trihydroxyflavone (compound 7 mentioned in Table 11, the compound wherein R1 is hydrogen atom, R2 is hydroxyl group, R3 is hydrogen atom, R4 is hydroxyl group, R5 is hydrogen atom, R1′ is hydrogen atom, R2′ is hydrogen atom, is hydroxyl group, R4′ is hydrogen atom, and R5′ is hydrogen atom, also referred to as apigenin), 7-methoxyflavone (compound 15 mentioned in Table 11, the compound wherein R1 is hydrogen atom, R2 is hydrogen atom, R3 is hydrogen atom, R4 is methoxy group, R5 is hydrogen atom, R1′ is hydrogen atom, R2′ is hydrogen atom, R3′ is hydrogen atom, R4′ is hydrogen atom, and R5′ is hydrogen atom), 2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-7-methoxychromen-4-one (compound 69 mentioned in Table 11, the compound wherein R1 is hydrogen atom, R2 is hydrogen atom, R3 is hydrogen atom, R4 is methoxy group, W is hydrogen atom, IV is hydrogen atom, R2′ is hydrogen atom, R3′ is hydroxyl group, R4′ is hydrogen atom, and R5′ is hydrogen atom, also referred to as isopratol), 5-hydroxy-2-(3-hydroxy-4,5-dimethoxyphenyl)-3,7-dimethoxychromen-4-one (compound 24 mentioned in Table 11, the compound wherein R1 is methoxy group, R2 is hydroxyl group, R3 is hydrogen atom, R4 is methoxy group, R5 is hydrogen atom, R1′ is hydrogen atom, R2′ is methoxy group, R3′ is methoxy group, R4′ is hydroxyl group, and W′ is hydrogen atom, also referred to as myricetin 3,7,3′,4′-tetramethyl ether), 5-hydroxy-2-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-3,7-dimethoxychromen-4-one (compound 66 mentioned in Table 11, the compound wherein R1 is methoxy group, R2 is hydroxyl group, R3 is hydrogen atom, R4 is methoxy group, R5 is hydrogen atom, R1′ is hydrogen atom, R2′ is methoxy group, R3′ is hydroxyl group, R4′ is hydrogen atom, and R5′ is hydrogen atom, also referred to as pachypodol), and the like.


Preferred examples of the compounds represented by the general formula (I) also include the compound wherein R1 is hydrogen atom, R2 is hydrogen atom, R3 is hydrogen atom, R4 is methoxy group, R5 is hydrogen atom, R1′ is hydrogen atom, R2′ is methoxy group, R3′ is hydroxyl group, R4′ is hydrogen atom, and R5′ is hydrogen atom (M-246), the compound wherein R1 is hydroxyl group, R2 is hydroxyl group, R3 is hydroxyl group, R4 is hydroxyl group, R5 is hydrogen atom, R1′ is hydrogen atom, R2′ is hydrogen atom, R3′ is hydrogen atom, R4′ is hydrogen atom, and R5′ is hydrogen atom (M-21), the compound wherein R1 is hydrogen atom, R2 is hydrogen atom, R3 is hydrogen atom, R4 is hydroxyl group, R5 is cyclopropyl group, R1′ is hydrogen atom, R2′ is hydrogen atom, R3′ is hydroxyl group, R4′ is hydrogen atom, and R5′ is hydrogen atom (J-Q21), and the compound wherein R1 is hydrogen atom, R2 is hydroxyl group, R3 is hydrogen atom, R4 is hydroxyl group, R5 is cyclopropyl group, R1′ is hydrogen atom, R2′ is hydrogen atom, R3′ is hydroxyl group, R4′ is hydrogen atom, and R5′ is hydrogen atom (J-Q12.1). M-246 and M-21 can be easily obtained as commercial products, and J-Q21 and J-Q12.1 can be easily synthesized by the methods specifically described in the section of Examples in this specification. However, the compounds represented by the general formula (I) are not limited to these preferred compounds.


Among these, in view of degree of the inhibitory activity for the DNA gyrase of Staphylococcus aureus, apigenin, myricetin 3,7,3′,4′-tetramethyl ether, isopratol, luteolin, kaempferol hydrate, M-246, M-21, J-Q21, and J-Q12.1 are preferred, apigenin, myricetin 3,7,3′,4′-tetramethyl ether, isopratol, M-246, and J-Q21 are more preferred, and apigenin, M-246, and J-Q21 are particularly preferred.


The antibacterial agent of the present invention has an action of inhibiting DNA gyrase of bacteria. The DNA gyrase is an essential factor for the DNA replication having a function of duly advancing DNA polymerase when the DNA polymerase advances along a template strand during DNA replication by repeatedly cleaving and religating DNA strands to ease the superhelix structure which is inevitably produced when the DNA polymerase advances along a template strand and makes extension of the replication difficult. The antibacterial agent of the present invention has a potent inhibitory activity against a mutated gyrase of, in particular, a bacterium that has acquired resistance to quinolones, preferably a Gram-positive bacterium that has acquired resistance to quinolones, particularly preferably Staphylococcus aureus that has acquired resistance to quinolones.


For example, Staphylococcus aureus that has acquired resistance to quinolones has a mutant Staphylococcus aureus DNA gyrase A subunit in which a leucine residue substitutes for the 84th serine residue from the amino terminus of the wild-type DNA gyrase A subunit of Staphylococcus aureus, and the antibacterial agent of the present invention can preferably inhibit the activity of such mutant Staphylococcus aureus DNA gyrase A subunit. Therefore, the antibacterial agent of the present invention can exhibit a potent antibacterial activity specifically against a bacterium that has acquired resistance to quinolones.


Many of the compounds represented by the general formula (I) are marketed, and they can be easily obtained. They can also be easily synthesized by known methods or methods similar to the known methods, or they can also be extracted from natural products. For example, apigenin is an ingredient contained in known foodstuffs such as celery and parsley, and therefore it is preferred because of high safety thereof.


As the antibacterial agent of the present invention, a compound represented by the general formula (I) which is the active ingredient, per se, may be used. It is generally desirable to provide the agent in the form of a pharmaceutical composition by using pharmaceutical additives. A single kind of pharmaceutical additive may be used, or two or more kinds of pharmaceutical additives may be used in combination.


Pharmaceutical additives can be appropriately chosen depending on a purpose of use, and examples include, for example, antibacterial agents, preservatives, caking agents, thickening agents, sticking agents, binders, colorants, stabilizers, pH adjustors, buffering agents, isotonic agents, solvents, anti-oxidants, ultraviolet inhibitors, crystal precipitation inhibitors, antifoams, physicochemical property improvers, antiseptics, and the like.


Dosage form of the antibacterial agent of the present invention, preferably the antibacterial agent in the form of a pharmaceutical composition, is not particularly limited, and examples include, for example, solid agents, semi-solid agents, liquid agents, and the like. Examples of the solid agent include tablets, chewable tablets, effervescent tablets, orally disintegrating tablets, troches, drops, hard capsules, soft capsules, granules, powders, pills, dry syrups, infusions, and the like. When the agent is used as an external preparation, the dosage form may be, for example, suppositories, cataplasms, plasters, or the like. Examples of the semi-solid agent include, for example, jellies, ointments, creams, mousses, and the like. Examples of the dosage form of the liquid agent suitable for oral administration include, for example, syrups, suspensions, and the like, and examples of the dosage form of the liquid agent suitable for parenteral administration include, for example, injections for intravenous administration, intramuscular administration, or subcutaneous administration, drip infusions, eye drops, ear drops, nasal drops, aerosols, nebulas, and the like.


A method for administration, a dose, a time for administration, and an object of administration of the antibacterial agent of the present invention are not particularly limited, and they can be appropriately chosen depending on a purpose of use. The dose can be appropriately chosen in consideration of various factors such as the age, body weight, sex, symptoms of an individual as the target of administration, and whether other medicaments are administered or not. Examples of species of the object of the administration include, for example, human, apes, swines, bovines, ovines, caprines, canines, felines, mouse, rat, birds, and the like, but is not limited to these examples.


In the antibacterial agent of the present invention, a single kind of the compound represented by the general formula (I) may be used as the active ingredient, or two or more kinds of the compounds may be used in combination. Furthermore, the agent may be used in combination with other medicinal active ingredients.


The antibacterial agent of the present invention can exhibit an especially potent antibacterial activity against bacteria that have acquired resistance to quinolones. The antibacterial agent of the present invention can exhibit a potent antibacterial activity against both Gram-positive bacteria and Gram-negative bacteria that have acquired resistance to quinolones through introduction of a mutation into DNA gyrase. The agent exhibits especially superior antibacterial activity against, in particular, Gram-positive bacteria, preferably Staphylococcus aureus, that have acquired resistance to quinolones. Therefore, by combining the antibacterial agent of the present invention with a quinolone, a potent antibacterial activity against both quinolone-susceptible bacteria and quinolone-resistant bacteria can be exhibited.


It is known that, in a bacterium such as Staphylococcus aureus that has acquired resistance to quinolones, amino acid mutations are introduced into the DNA gyrase (topoisomerase II) and top oisomerase IV. The aforementioned DNA gyrase is encoded by the gyrA and gyrB genes, and the aforementioned topoisomerase IV is encoded by parCand parE. Examples of the quinolone-resistant Staphylococcus aureus include, for example, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-intermediate resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VISA), vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VRSA), and the like. The antibacterial agent of the present invention has an antibacterial activity especially suitable for, for example, Staphylococcus aureus having a mutant DNA gyrase A subunit in which a leucine residue substitutes for the 84th serine residue from the amino terminus of the DNA gyrase A subunit of wild-type Staphylococcus aureus.


Although the method for measuring the antibacterial activity is not particularly limited, there can generally be used the method of determining the minimum inhibitory concentration (henceforth also referred to as “MIC”) and the like, and the broth microdilution method and the like are preferably used.


MIC of the antibacterial agent of the present invention for quinolone-resistant bacteria such as quinolone-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is preferably, for example, 32 mg/L or lower, more preferably 16 mg/L or lower, still more preferably 8 mg/L or lower, particularly preferably 4 mg/L or lower. If MIC is higher than 4 mg/L, the antibacterial activity is rather weak, and proliferation of a bacterium may not be sufficiently inhibited.


The antibacterial agent of the present invention has a potent antibacterial activity against bacteria that have acquired resistance to quinolones. However, if a quinolone-resistant bacterium further acquires resistance to the antibacterial agent of the present invention, the mutation introduced into the DNA gyrase is reversed, and the DNA gyrase becomes a non-mutated DNA gyrase of a quinolone-susceptible bacterium. Therefore, by using a quinolone and the antibacterial agent of the present invention in combination, emergence of bacteria resistant to quinolones can be effectively prevented.


Quinolones are generally classified into the quinolones of the first generation (old quinolones), and the quinolones of the second generation (new quinolones). Specific examples of the old quinolones include nalidixic acid, piromidic acid, pipemidic acid, and the like. Since the new quinolones exhibit high antibacterial activity against not only Gram-negative bacteria, but also Gram-positive bacteria, they are also widely used for infectious diseases induced by pneumococci or streptococci, besides urogenital infectious diseases, enteric infections, and the like. Specific examples of the new quinolones include norfloxacin, levofloxacin, ofloxacin, enoxacin, ciprofloxacin chloride, tosufloxacin tosylate, lomefloxacin hydrochloride, fleroxacin, sparfloxacin, gatifloxacin, puzufloxacin mesylate, and the like, but not limited to these examples. When the antibacterial agent of the present invention and a quinolone are used in combination, the quinolone may consist of a single kind of quinolone or two or more kinds of quinolones. A combination with a new quinolone is preferred.


When the antibacterial agent of the present invention and at least one kind of quinolone are used in combination, the antibacterial agent of the present invention and at least one kind of the quinolone may be administered in combination as separate agents (separate dosage forms), or as a single agent containing the both in a unit dosage form (so-called a combination drug). Times of the administration of the antibacterial agent of the present invention and the quinolone are not particularly limited, and can be appropriately chosen depending on a purpose of use. The antibacterial agent of the present invention and at least one kind of quinolone may be simultaneously administered, or they may be successively administered with an appropriately chosen time interval so long as the effect of the present invention is not degraded. When the antibacterial agent of the present invention and at least one kind of quinolone are administered with a time interval, order of the administration of the antibacterial agent of the present invention and the quinolone is not particularly limited, and can be appropriately determined depending on a purpose of use.


The antibacterial agent of the present invention can be used for a prophylactic and/or therapeutic treatment of infectious diseases caused by various bacteria. In particular, use of the antibacterial agent of the present invention in combination with at least one kind of quinolone is preferred, since such use can be applied for any of an infectious disease induced by a quinolone-resistant bacterium, an infectious disease caused by a quinolone-susceptible bacterium, and an infectious disease caused by the both. Since the antibacterial agent of the present invention acts on quinolone-resistant bacteria, and the quinolone acts on quinolone-susceptible bacteria, such use is advantageous in that antibacterial activity can be obtained irrespective of the presence or absence of quinolone resistance in causative bacteria of infectious diseases, and can be widely used for a treatment of infectious diseases.


Furthermore, when a bacterium that has acquired resistance to quinolones because of mutation of gyrase further acquires resistance to the antibacterial agent of the present invention, reversion arises in the mutated gyrase, and the bacterium again becomes susceptible to quinolones. Therefore, by using the antibacterial agent of the present invention and a quinolone in combination, quinolone-susceptible bacteria can be eliminated with the quinolone, and quinolone-resistant bacteria can be effectively eliminated with the antibacterial agent of the present invention. Therefore, an extremely effective treatment of an infectious disease can be attained with preventing emergence of new quinolone-resistant bacteria.


EXAMPLES

The present invention will be specifically explained with reference to the following examples. However, the scope of the present invention is not limited by these examples.


Example 1

Antibacterial activities of 133 kinds of the compounds shown in Tables 1 to 10 mentioned below against Staphylococcus aureus were examined by the following methods.


Preparation of Test Compounds

The compounds shown in Tables 1 to 10 mentioned below (flavones, isoflavones, flavanones, anthocyanidins, and flavans) were each dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) at a concentration of 1,024 mg/L. Cation-adjusted MHB was separately prepared by adding magnesium and calcium to MHB (Mueller Hinton Broth, produced by Becton Dickinson) according to CLSI (Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute) (henceforth also referred to as “CAMHB”), and each solution of test compound was diluted 4 times with CAMHB to prepare a solution of a concentration of 256 mg/L. This solution was serially 2-fold-diluted 11 times in total to a concentration of 0.125 mg/L.


<Measurement of MIC of Test Compound for Staphylococcus aureus>


—Preparation of Cell Suspension—


S. aureus Mu50 (refer to Hiramatsu, K., Hanaki H., et al., J. Antimicrob. Chemother., 1997, 40(1), 135-6) or S. aureus FDA209P (ATCC 6538P) was cultured overnight at 37° C. in 4 mL of TBS (Tryptical Soy Broth, produced by Becton Dickinson) with shaking. After completion of the culture, the cells were suspended in fresh TBS to prepare a cell suspension showing an absorbance of 0.3 at 578 nm. Then, the cell suspension was diluted 500 times with CAMHB mentioned above.


—Measurement of MIC (Minimum Inhibitory Concentration)—

CAMHB containing each test compound at each of the aforementioned concentrations was added to each well of a 96-well plate in a volume of 50 μL/well, the aforementioned cell suspension diluted 500 time was added to the well in a volume of 50 μL/well, and stationary culture was carried out overnight at 37° C. The final concentrations of the test compounds at the time of culture were 128 to 0.0625 mg/L.


After completion of the culture, whether the bacterium proliferated or not was determined on the basis of visually observed turbidity of the culture in the well, and MIC values (mg/L) of the test compounds against the strains were calculated. The results are shown in Tables 1 to 10 mentioned below. It was determined that the compounds that showed an MIC value not higher than 32 mg/L had antibacterial activity.









TABLE 1







Flavones









MIC (mg/L)












No.
Compound
Manufacturer
Molecular formula
Mu50
FDA209P















1
3,3′,4′,5,7-Pentahydroxyflavone
Tokyo Chemical Industry
C15H10O7xH2O
32
64



Hydrate


2
2′,3,4′,5,7-Pentahydroxyflavone
Tokyo Chemical Industry
C16H10O7xH2O
128
>128



Hydrate


3
2-(2,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-3,5,7-
Labotest
C15H10O7
>128
>128



trihydroxychromen-4-one


4
3,4′,5,7-Tetrahydroxyflavone Hydrate
Tokyo Chemical Industry
C16H10O6xH2O
8
16


5
2-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-3,5,7-
AnalytiCon Discovery
C16H12O7
128
128



trihydroxy-6-methylchromen-4-one


6
3′,4′,5,7-Tetrahydroxyflavone
Tokyo Chemical Industry
C15H10O6
8
32


7
4′,5,7-Trihydroxyflavone
Tokyo Chemical Industry
C15H10O5
4
>128


8
5,7-dihydroxy-8-methyl-2-
SPECS
C16H12O4
>128
>128



phenylchromen-4-one


9
7-acetyloxy-2-(3,4-
Pharmeks
C23H18O11
64
128



diacetyloxyphenyl)-5-hydroxy-4-



oxochromen-3-yl acetate


10
3′,4′,5,6,7,8-Hexamethoxyflavone
Tokyo Chemical Industry
C21H22O8
128
128


11
4′,5,6,7,8-Pentamethoxyflavone
Tokyo Chemical Industry
C20H20O7
>128
>128


12
3-Hydroxyflavone
Tokyo Chemical Industry
C15H10O3
>128
>128


13
6-Hydroxyflavone
Tokyo Chemical Industry
C15H10O3
>128
>128


14
7,8-Dihydroxyflavone
Tokyo Chemical Industry
C15H10O4
64
64


15
7-Methoxyflavone
Tokyo Chemical Industry
C16H12O3
32
128


16
6-Methoxyflavone
Tokyo Chemical Industry
C16H12O3
128
128


17
5-Hydroxyflavone
Tokyo Chemical Industry
C15H10O3
128
128


18
5,7-dimethoxy-2-(4-
MAYBRIDGE
C18H16O5
128
128



methoxyphenyl)chromen-4-one


19
2-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-3,5,7-
Pharmeks
C20H20O7
>128
>128



trimethoxychromen-4-one


20
5,7-dihydroxy-6-methoxy-2-(4-
Pharmeks
C17H14O6
>128
>128



methoxyphenyl)chromen-4-one


21
5,7-dimethoxy-8-methyl-2-
SPECS
C18H16O4
>128
>128



phenylchromen-4-one


22
2-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-5,7-
Labotest
C19H18O8
>128
>128



dimethoxychromen-4-one


23
5,7-bis(methylethoxy)-8-iodo-2-[4-
SPECS
C24H27IO5
>128
>128



(methylethoxy)phenyl]chromen-4-one


24
5-hydroxy-2-(3-hydroxy-4,5-
AnalytiCon Discovery
C19H18O8
8
128



dimethoxyphenyl)-3,7-



dimethoxychromen-4-one


25
2-phenylchromen-4-one (2-phenyl-1-
Tokyo Chemical Industry
C15H10O2
64
128



benzopyran-4-one)


















TABLE 2









MIC (mg/L)












No.
Compound
Manufacturer
Molecular formula
Mu50
FDA209P















26
5,7-dihydroxy-2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-6-
AnalytiCon Discovery
C16H12O6
>128
>128



methoxychromen-4-one


27
5,7-dihydroxy-2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-
AnalytiCon Discovery
C17H14O7
>128
>128



3,6-dimethoxychromen-4-one


28
5-hydroxy-2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-6,7-
AnalytiCon Discovery
C17H14O6
>128
>128



dimethoxychromen-4-one


29
5,7-dihydroxy-2-(4-hydroxy-3-
AnalytiCon Discovery
C18H16O8
>128
>128



methoxyphenyl)-3,6-



dimethoxychromen-4-one


30
5,6,7,8-tetramethoxy-2-(4-
AnalytiCon Discovery
C20H2O7
>128
128



methoxyphenyl)chromen-4-one


31
2-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-5-hydroxy-
AnalytiCon Discovery
C17H14O7
>128
>128



6,7-dimethoxychromen-4-one


32
7,9-dimethoxy-6-(4-methoxyphenyl)-
AnalytiCon Discovery
C19H16O7
>128
>128



2H-1,3-dioxoleno[4,5-g]chromen-8-



one


33
5-hydroxy-2-(3-hydroxy-4-
AnalytiCon Discovery
C19H18O8
128
>128



methoxyphenyl)-3,6,7-



trimethoxychromen-4-one


34
5,6,7-trihydroxy-2-(4-
AnalytiCon Discovery
C16H12O6
128
128



methoxyphenyl)chromen-4-one


35
3,5,6,7,8-pentamethoxy-2-(7-
AnalytiCon Discovery
C22H22O10
>128
>128



methoxy(2H-benzo[3,4-d]1,3-



dioxolan-5-yl))chromen-4-one


36
7-acetyloxy-2-(3,4-
TimTec
C23H18O10
>128
>128



diacetyloxyphenyl)-4-oxochromen-5-



yl acetate


37
2-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-3,5,7,8-
TimTec
C15H10O8
64
128



tetrahydroxychromen-4-one


38
3,5,7-trihydroxy-2-(4-hydroxy-3-
TimTec
C17H14O8
32
128



methoxyphenyl)-8-methoxychromen-



4-one


39
2-(3-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl)-
TimTec
C19H18O7
128
128



5,6,7-trimethoxychromen-4-one


40
5-hydroxy-2-(3-hydroxy-4-
TimTec
C18H16O7
128
128



methoxyphenyl)-6,7-



dimethoxychromen-4-one


















TABLE 3









MIC (mg/L)












No.
Compound
Manufacturer
Molecular formula
Mu50
FDA209P















41
5,6,7-trihydroxy-2-(4-
TimTec
C15H10O6
128
128



hydroxyphenyl)chromen-4-one


42
2-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-5,6,7-
TimTec
C20H20O7
>128
>128



trimethoxychromen-4-one


43
5,7-dimethoxy-2-(3,4,5-
TimTec
C20H20O7
>128
>128



trimethoxyphenyl)chromen-4-one


44
5-hydroxy-8-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-2,2-
AnalytiCon Discovery
C20H16O5
>128
>128



dimethyl-2H-pyrano[3,2-g]chromen-6-



one


45
8-[5-(5,7-dihydroxy-4-oxochromen-2-
App Tec
C30H18O10
>128
>128



yl)-2-hydroxyphenyl]-5,7-dihydroxy-2-



(4-hydroxyphenyl)chromen-4-one


46
8-(5,5-dimethyl-4-oxofuran-3-yl)-5,7-
SPECS
C23H20O6
>128
128



dimethoxy-2-phenylchromen-4-one


47
8-[(dimethylamino)methyl]-7-hydroxy-
Vitas-M
C19H19NO4
>128
128



5-methoxy-2-phenylchromen-4-one


48
7-hydroxy-5-methoxy-2-phenyl-8-
Vitas-M
C22H23NO4
>128
128



(piperidylmethyl)chromen-4-one


49
8-[(3,5-dimethylpiperidyl)methyl]-7-
Vitas-M
C24H27NO4
>128
128



hydroxy-5-methoxy-2-



phenylchromen-4-one


50
7-hydroxy-5-methoxy-8-(morpholin-4-
Pharmeks
C21H21NO5
>128
>128



ylmethyl)-2-phenylchromen-4-one


51
7-hydroxy-5-methoxy-8-[(4-
Pharmeks
C22H24N2O4
128
128



methylpiperazinyl)methyl]-2-



phenylchromen-4-one


52
7-hydroxy-5-methoxy-8-[(2-
Pharmeks
C23H25NO4
>128
>128



methylpiperidyl)methyl]-2-



phenylchromen-4-one


53
7-hydroxy-5-methoxy-8-[(3-
Pharmeks
C23H25NO4
>128
128



methylpiperidyl)methyl]-2-



phenylchromen-4-one


54
3-Hydroxyflavone-2′-sulfonic Acid
Tokyo Chemical Industry
C15H9NAO6SxH2O
128
128



Sodium Salt Hydrate


55
2-piperidin-1-ylethyl 3-methyl-4-oxo-
Tokyo Chemical Industry
C24H25NO4HCl
>128
128



2-phenylchromene-8-carboxylate


56
3-acetyl-2,4-dioxo-1-phenyl-1,3-
Labotest
C17H13NO3
>128
>128



dihydroquinoline


57
5,6-Benzoflavone
Tokyo Chemical Industry
C19H12O2
128
128


58
7,8-Benzoflavone
Tokyo Chemical Industry
C19H12O2
128
128


59
5,6-Dihydroxy-4-oxo-2-phenyl-4H-1-
Tokyo Chemical Industry
C21H18O11
128
128



benzopyran-7-yl β-D-



Glucopyranosiduronic Acid


60
8-[(3R,4R,5R,6R)-3,4,5-trihydroxy-6-
AnalytiCon Discovery
C21H20O11
>128
>128



(hydroxymethyl)(2H-3,4,5,6-



tetrahydropyran-2-yl)]-2-(3,4-



dihydroxyphenyl)-5,7-



dihydroxychromen-4-one


















TABLE 4









MIC (mg/L)












No.
Compound
Manufacturer
Molecular formula
Mu50
FDA209P















61
8-[(2S,4S,5S,3R,6R)-3,4,5-
TimTec
C21H20O13
128
128



trihydroxy-6-(hydroxymethyl)(2H-



3,4,5,6-tetrahydropyran-2-yloxy)]-2-



(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-3,5,7-



trihydroxychromen-4-one


62
(2S,3S,4S,6S,5R)-6-[2-(3,4-
AnalytiCon Discovery
C21H18O12
>128
>128



dihydroxyphenyl)-5-hydroxy-4-



oxochromen-7-yloxy]-3,4,5-



trihydroxy-2H-3,4,5,6-



tetrahydropyran-2-carboxylic acid


63
2-{4-[(2S,4S,5S,3R,6R)-3,4,5-
AnalytiCon Discovery
C21H20O10
128
128



trihydroxy-6-(hydroxymethyl)(2H-



3,4,5,6-tetrahydropyran-2-



yloxy)]phenyl}-5,7-dihydroxychromen-



4-one


64
5,7-dihydroxy-2-(3-hydroxy-4-
AnalytiCon Discovery
C21H20O11
>128
>128



{[(2S,3R,4S,5S,6R)-3,4,5-trihydroxy-



6-(hydroxymethyl)oxan-2-



yl]oxy}phenyl)-4H-chromen-4-one


65
3-[(2S,4S,5S,3R,6R)-3,4,5-
AnalytiCon Discovery
C21H20O11
>128
>128



trihydroxy-6-(hydroxymethyl)(2H-



3,4,5,6-tetrahydropyran-2-yloxy)]-5,7-



dihydroxy-2-(4-



hydroxyphenyl)chromen-4-one


66
5-hydroxy-2-(4-hydroxy-3-
AnalytiCon Discovery
C18H16O7
32
128



methoxyphenyl)-3,7-



dimethoxychromen-4-one


67
(2S,3S,4S,6S,5R)-6-[4-(5,7-
AnalytiCon Discovery
C21H18O12
128
128



dihydroxy-4-oxochromen-2-yl)-2-



hydroxyphenoxy]-3,4,5-trihydroxy-2H-



3,4,5,6-tetrahydropyran-2-carboxylic



acid


68
2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)chromen-4-one
TimTec
C15H10O3
128
128


69
2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-7-
TimTec
C16H12O4
16
>128



methoxychromen-4-one


70
5-hydroxy-2-(4-
TimTec
C15H10O4
128
128



hydroxyphenyl)chromen-4-one
















TABLE 5







Isoflavones









MIC (mg/L)












No.
Compound
Manufacturer
Molecular formula
Mu50
FDA209P















71
ethyl 5,7-dihydroxy-3-(4-
Enamine
C19H16O7
128
128



methoxyphenyl)-4-oxochromene-2-



carboxylate


72
7-acetyloxy-3-(4-methoxyphenyl)-4-
Enamine
C20H16O7
>128
>128



oxochromen-5-yl acetate


73
3-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-5,7-
Enamine
C18H16O6
>128
128



dihydroxy-2-methylchromen-4-one


74
5-hydroxy-7-methoxy-3-(4-
Labotest
C17H14O5
>128
>128



methoxyphenyl)chromen-4-one


75
5,7-diethoxy-3-(4-
Labotest
C21H22O5
>128
>128



ethoxyphenyl)chromen-4-one


76
5,7-dimethoxy-3-(4-
Labotest
C18H16O5
>128
>128



methoxyphenyl)chromen-4-one


77
3-(2H,3H-benzo[3,4-e]1,4-dioxan-6-
Life Chemicals
C22H18O8
>128
>128



yl)-7-acetyloxy-2-methyl-4-



oxochromen-5-yl acetate


78
3-{4-[(2S,4S,5S,3R,6R)-3,4,5-
Life Chemicals
C22H22O10
>128
>128



trihydroxy-6-(hydroxymethyl)(2H-



3,4,5,6-tetrahydropyran-2-



yloxy)]phenyl}-5-hydroxy-7-



methoxychromen-4-one


79
[3-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-5-hydroxy-
Life Chemicals
C20H19NO7
>128
>128



4-oxochromen-7-yloxy]-N,N-



dimethylcarboxamide


80
[3-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-5-methoxy-
Life Chemicals
C21H21NO7
>128
>128



4-oxochromen-7-yloxy]-N,N-



dimethylcarboxamide


81
3-{4-[(4S,5S,3R,6R)-3,4,5-trihydroxy-
MAYBRIDGE
C21H20O10
>128
>128



6-(hydroxymethyl)(2H-3,4,5,6-



tetrahydropyran-2-yloxy)]phenyl}-5,7-



dihydroxychromen-4-one


82
7-acetyloxy-3-(4-acetyloxyphenyl)-4-
MAYBRIDGE
C21H16O8
>128
>128



oxochromen-5-yl acetate


83
3-(2H,3H,4H-benzo[b]1,4-dioxepin-7-
OTAVA
C19H16O6
128
128



yl)-5,7-dihydroxy-2-methylchromen-4-



one


84
5-hydroxy-3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-7-
OTAVA
C23H26O6
>128
>128



octyloxychromen-4-one


85
3-{4-[(2S,4S,5S,3R,6R)-3,4,5-
Princeton
C23H24O10
>128
>128



trihydroxy-6-(hydroxymethyl)(2H-



3,4,5,6-tetrahydropyran-2-



yloxy)]phenyl}-5,7-



dimethoxychromen-4-one


86
5-hydroxy-7-methoxy-2-methyl-3-(7-
Princeton
C20H18O6
>128
>128



methyl(2H,3H-benzo[3,4-e]1,4-



dioxan-6-yl))chromen-4-one


87
5,7-dihydroxy-2-methyl-3-(7-
Princeton
C19H16O6
128
64



methyl(2H,3H-benzo[3,4-e]1,4-



dioxan-6-yl))chromen-4-one


















TABLE 6









MIC (mg/L)












No.
Compound
Manufacturer
Molecular formula
Mu50
FDA209P















88
5,7-dimethoxy-2-methyl-3-(7-
Princeton
C21H20O6
>128
128



methyl(2H,3H-benzo[3,4-e]1,4-



dioxan-6-yl))chromen-4-one


89
7-acetyloxy-2-methyl-3-(7-
Princeton
C23H20O8
128
128



methyl(2H,3H-benzo[3,4-e]1,4-



dioxan-6-yl))-4-oxochromen-5-yl



acetate


90
2-ethyl-5,7-dihydroxy-3-(4-
SALOR
C18H16O5
>128
128



methoxyphenyl)chromen-4-one


91
ethyl 5-hydroxy-7-methoxy-3-(4-
SPECS
C20H18O7
>128
>128



methoxyphenyl)-4-oxochromene-2-



carboxylate


92
5,7-dimethoxy-3-(4-methoxyphenyl)-
SPECS
C19H16O7
>128
>128



4-oxochromene-2-carboxylic acid


93
5,7-dihydroxy-3-(3-hydroxy-4,5-
AnalytiCon
C18H16O8
128
128



dimethoxyphenyl)-6-



methoxychromen-4-one


94
5,7-dihydroxy-6-methoxy-3-(4-
AnalytiCon
C17H14O6
128
128



methoxyphenyl)chromen-4-one


95
(2S,3S,4S,6S,5R)-6-[4-(5,7-
AnalytiCon
C21H18O11
>128
128



dihydroxy-4-oxochromen-3-



yl)phenoxy]-3,4,5-trihydroxy-2H-



3,4,5,6-tetrahydropyran-2-carboxylic



acid


96
5-[(4S,5S,3R,6R)-3,4,5-trihydroxy-6-
AnalytiCon
C22H22O10
128
128



(hydroxymethyl)(2H-3,4,5,6-



tetrahydropyran-2-yl)oxy]-3-(4-



hydroxyphenyl)-7-methoxychromen-



4-one


97
7-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-9-methoxy-2H-
AnalytiCon
C17H12O6
128
128



1,3-dioxoleno[4,5-g]chromen-8-one


98
5,7-dihydroxy-3-(2,4,5-
AnalytiCon
C18H16O7
>128
128



trimethoxyphenyl)chromen-4-one


99
5,7-dihydroxy-3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-8-
AnalytiCon
C21H20O10
>128
128



[3,4,5-trihydroxy-6-



(hydroxymethyl)(2H-3,4,5,6-



tetrahydropyran-2-yl)]chromen-4-one


100
5,7-dihydroxy-3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-6-
AnalytiCon
C16H12O6
128
128



methoxychromen-4-one


101
3-(2,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-5,7-
AnalytiCon
C15H10O6
128
128



dihydroxychromen-4-one


102
2-(3-(2H,3H-benzo[3,4-e]1,4-dioxin-
Pharmeks
C19H14O8
128
128



6-yl)-5-hydroxy-4-oxochromen-7-



yloxy)acetic acid


103
3-(2H,3H,4H-benzo[b]1,4-dioxepin-7-
Pharmeks
C22H22O10
128
128



yl)-7-acetyloxy-4-oxochromen-5-yl



acetate


















TABLE 7









MIC (mg/L)












No.
Compound
Manufacturer
Molecular formula
Mu50
FDA209P















104
3-(2H,3H-benzo[3,4-e]1,4-dioxin-6-
Pharmeks
C21H16O8
64
128



yl)-7-acetyloxy-4-oxochromen-5-yl



acetate


105
11-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-2,2,6,6-
Pharmeks
C25H24O6
128
128



tetramethyl-6H-pyrano[2,3-



h]pyrano[6,5-f]chroman-12-one


106
3-(2H,3H-benzo[3,4-e]1,4-dioxan-6-
Pharmeks
C17H12O6
64
64



yl)-5,7-dihydroxychromen-4-one


107
3-(2H,3H,4H-benzo[b]1,4-dioxepin-7-
Pharmeks
C18H14O6
128
128



yl)-5,7-dihydroxychromen-4-one


108
3-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-7-hydroxy-5-
Pharmeks
C18H16O6
128
128



methoxychromen-4-one


109
3-(2H,3H,4H-benzo[b]1,4-dioxepin-7-
Pharmeks
C23H20O8
128
128



yl)-7-acetyloxy-2-methyl-4-



oxochromen-5-yl acetate


110
5-hydroxy-3-(4-methoxyphenyl)-7-
TimTec
C22H22O10
128
128



[3,4,5-trihydroxy-6-



(hydroxymethyl)(2H-3,4,5,6-



tetrahydropyran-2-yloxy)]chromen-4-



one


111
3-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-5,7-
TimTec
C19H18O6
128
>128



dimethoxychromen-4-one


112
5-hydroxy-3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-7-
TimTec
C16H12O5
>128
>128



methoxychromen-4-one


113
5,7-dihydroxy-3-(4-
Vitas-M
C15H10O5
128
128



hydroxyphenyl)chromen-4-one


114
ethyl 3-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-5,7-
Vitas-M
C20H18O8
>128
>128



dihydroxy-4-oxochromene-2-



carboxylate


115
5,7-dihydroxy-3-(4-methoxyphenyl)-2-
Vitas-M
C17H14O5
64
128



methylchromen-4-one


116
5,7-dihydroxy-3-(4-
Vitas-M
C16H12O5
128
128



methoxyphenyl)chromen-4-one


117
3-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-5,7-
Vitas-M
C17H14O6
>128
>128



dihydroxychromen-4-one


118
3-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-5,7-
Vitas-M
C18H13F3O6
64
128



dihydroxy-2-(trifluoromethyl)chromen-



4-one


119
7-acetyloxy-3-(4-methoxyphenyl)-2-
Vitas-M
C21H18O7
>128
>128



methyl-4-oxochromen-5-yl acetate


120
3-{4-[(2S,4S,5S,3R,6R)-3,4,5-
Vitas-M
C21H20O10
>128
>128



trihydroxy-6-(hydroxymethyl)(2H-



3,4,5,6-tetrahydropyran-2-



yloxy)]phenyl}-5,7-dihydroxychromen-



4-one


121
3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-5,7-
Vitas-M
C17H14O5
>128
>128



dimethoxychromen-4-one


122
5-hydroxy-2-(hydroxymethyl)-7-(4-
App Tec
C20H16O6
>128
>128



hydroxyphenyl)-2-methyl-2H-



pyrano[3,2-g]chromen-6-one
















TABLE 8







Flavanones









MIC (mg/L)












No.
Compound
Manufacturer
Molecular formula
Mu50
FDA209P















123
4′-Hydroxyflavanone
Tokyo Chemical Industry
C15H12O3
128
128


124
3′-Hydroxyflavanone
Tokyo Chemical Industry
C15H12O3
128
128


125
3′,5,7-Trihydroxy-4′-
Tokyo Chemical Industry
C16H14O6
>128
128



methoxyflavanone


126
2,3-Dihydro-2-phenyl-4H-
Tokyo Chemical Industry
C15H12O2
128
128



benzopyran-4-one


127
7-Hydroxyflavanone
Tokyo Chemical Industry
C15H12O3
128
128


128
4′,5,7-Trihydroxyflavanone
Tokyo Chemical Industry
C15H12O6
128
128
















TABLE 9







Anthocyanidins









MIC (mg/L)












No.
Compound
Manufacturer
Molecular formula
Mu50
FDA209P





129
2-(4-hydroxy-3-
App Tec
C16H13O6
128
128



methoxyphenyl)benzo[b]oxin-3,5,7-



triol


130
2-(4-hydroxy-3,5-
App Tec
C17H15O7
128
128



dimethoxyphenyl)benzo[b]oxin-3,5,7-



triol


131
2-(3,4-dihydroxy-5-
App Tec
C16H13O7
128
128



methoxyphenyl)benzo[b]oxin-3,5,7-



triol
















TABLE 10







Flavans









MIC (mg/L)












No.
Compound
Manufacturer
Molecular formula
Mu50
FDA209P















132
(+)-3,3′,4′,5,7-Flavanpentol Hydrate
Tokyo Chemical Industry
C15H14O8xH2O
128
128


133
3,3′,4′,5,7-Flavanpentol Hydrate
Tokyo Chemical Industry
C15H14O8xH2O
>128
128









As seen from the results shown in Tables 1 to 4, among 70 kinds of the flavones, 9 flavones (Nos. 1, 6, 8, 10, 26, 35, 53, 86 and 90) exhibited superior antibacterial activity against S. aureus Mu50 with MIC values of not higher than 32 mg/L. These 9 kinds of flavones had more potent antibacterial activity against quinolone-resistant methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Mu50 compared with the quinolone-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus FDA209P. The structures of these 9 kinds of flavones are shown in Table 11 below. The MIC value of the flavone having the fundamental structure of the test compounds (No. 37) against S. aureus Mu50 was 62 mg/L which was lower than the MIC value of the same against S. aureus FDA209P.


As seen from the results shown in Tables 5 to 7, all of 52 kinds of the isoflavones gave MIC values not lower than 64 mg/L, and thus no isoflavones were found to have antibacterial activity against S. aureus Mu50 and S. aureus FDA209P.


As seen from the results shown in Tables 8 to 10, all of 6 kinds of the flavanones, 3 kinds of the anthocyanidins, and 2 kinds of flavans gave MIC values not lower than 128 mg/L, and thus no flavanones were found to have antibacterial activity against S. aureus Mu50 and S. aureus FDA209P.


Example 2

Antibacterial activities of 9 kinds of the flavones that showed antibacterial activity against S. aureus Mu50 in Example 1 (Nos. 1, 6, 8, 10, 26, 35, 53, 86 and 90), as well as the flavone proved to have no antibacterial activity against S. aureus Mu50 (No. 37) and 2 kinds of quinolones (levofloxacin and norfloxacin) as controls were examined according to the following methods.


<Preparation of Flavones and Quinolones>

Ten kinds of the flavones shown in Table 11 mentioned below (Nos. 1, 6, 8, 10, 26, 35, 37, 53, 86 and 90) were each dissolved in DMSO at a concentration of 1,024 mg/L. Levofloxacin (LVFX, produced by LKT laboratories) and norfloxacin (NFLX, produced by SIGMA-ALDRICH), both are quinolones, were each dissolved in sterilized water at a concentration of 1,024 mg/L. Subsequently, these solutions of flavones and quinolones were diluted 4 times with CAMHB mentioned above to prepare solutions of a concentration of 256 mg/L. The resulting solutions were subjected to 2-fold dilution up to 11 times dilution to a concentration of 0.125 mg/L.


<Measurement of MIC of Flavones and Quinolones for Staphylococcus aureus>


MIC values (mg/L) of the flavones and quinolones against the strains were measured in the same manner as that of the measurement of MIC of Example 1, except that CAMHB containing each of the aforementioned flavones and quinolones prepared in Example 2 was used instead of CAMHB containing each of the test compounds. The results are shown in Table 12 below. As for the flavones, the compounds having an MIC value of 32 mg/L or lower were determined to have antibacterial activity. Further, according to the guideline of CLSI, levofloxacin having an MIC value not higher than 2 mg/L is considered to have antibacterial activity, and norfloxacin having an MIC value not higher than 8 mg/L is considered to have antibacterial activity (see, “Performance Standards for Antibacterial Susceptibility Testing; Twenty-First Informational Supplement”, Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute, 2011, M100-S21, Vol. 31, No. 1, Replaces M100-S20 and M100-S20-U, Vol. 30, No. 1 and Vol. 30, No. 15; and “Drug Susceptibility Test and Break Points, Problems and Future View”, Ishii Yoshikazu, Japanese Journal of Chemotherapy, September 2011, Vol. 59, No. 5, pp. 454-459).


—Calculation of MIC Ratio—

MIC ratios were calculated from the MIC values measured above in accordance with the following equation.





MIC ratio=(MIC value for S. aureus FDA209P)/(MIC value for S. aureus Mu50)


Ten kinds of the flavones mentioned in Table 11 below fall within the compounds represented by the following general formula (I), and the substituents thereof are as shown in Table 11 mentioned below.




embedded image









TABLE 11







Category I




















7
4′5,7-
Apigenin
H
OH
H
OH
H
H
H
OH
H
H
Formula(5)



trihydroxyflavone


24
5-hydroxy-2-(3-
Myricetin
OCH3
OH
H
OCH3
H
H
OCH3
OCH3
OH
H
Formula(8)



hydroxy-4,5-
3,7,3′,4′-



dimethoxyphenyl)-
tetramethyl



3,7-
ether



dimethoxychromen-



4-one


69
2-(4-
Isopratol
H
H
H
OCH3
H
H
H
OH
H
H
Formula(7)



hydroxyphenyl)-7-



methoxychromen-



4-one







Category II




















6
3′,4′,5,7-
Luteolin
H
OH
H
OH
H
H
OH
OH
H
H
Formula(4)



tetrahydroxyflavone


4
3,4′,5,7-
Kaempferol
OH
OH
H
OH
H
H
H
OH
H
H
Formula(2)



tetrahydroxyflavone
hydrate



hydrate







Category III




















15
7-methoxyflavone
7-Methoxyflavone
H
H
H
OCH3
H
H
H
H
H
H
Formula(6)


66
5-hydroxy-2-(4-
Pachypodol
OCH3
OH
H
OCH3
H
H
OCH3
OH
H
H
Formula(9)



hydroxy-3-



methoxyphenyl)-



3,7-



dimethoxychromen-



4-one


1
3,3′,4′,5,7-
Quercetin
OH
OH
H
OH
H
H
OH
OH
H
H
Formula(1)



pentahydroxy-
dihydrate



flavone hydrate


38
3,5,7-trihydroxy-2-
Limocitrin
OH
OH
H
OH
OCH3
H
OCH3
OH
H
H
Formula(3)



(4-hydroxy-3-



methoxyphenyl)-8-



methoxychromen-



4-one







Control




















25
2-phenylchromen-
Flavone
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H




4-one (2-phenyl-1-



benzopyran-4-



one)







Quinolones





















levofloxacin
Levofloxacin














norfloxacin
Norfloxacin






















embedded image


embedded image












TABLE 12










MIC (mg/L)



Compound

S. aureus












No.
(Common name)
Mu50
FDA209P
MIC ratio










Category I











7
Apigenin
4
>128
>32


24
Myricetin 3,7,3′,4′-
8
128
16



tetramethyl ether


69
Isopratol
8
128
16







Category II











6
Luteolin
8
32
4


4
Kaempferol hydrate
8
16
2







Category III











15
7-Methoxyflavone
32
128
4


66
Pachypodol
32
128
4


1
Quercetin dihydrate
32
64
2


38
Limocitrin
32
128
4







Control











25
Flavone
64
128
2







Quinolones












Levofloxacin
8
0.125
0.016



Norfloxacin
64
0.5
0.008









From the results shown in Table 12 and on the basis of the antibacterial activities of the flavones against Staphylococcus aureus, 9 kinds of the flavones that are represented by the formulas (1) to (9) having antibacterial activities against S. aureus Mu50 in Example 1 (Nos. 1, 6, 8, 10, 26, 35, 53, 86 and 90) were classified into categories I to III as follows.


—Category I—

The compounds having an MIC value not higher than 16 mg/L against S. aureus Mu50 with the mutated DNA gyrase A subunit and having an MIC ratio not lower than 8 were classified into Category I. It is suggested that the compounds of Category I have specific activity against the DNA gyrase A subunit. Among them, apigenin showed an extremely high antibacterial activity, i.e., an MIC ratio not lower than 32.


—Category II—

The compounds having an MIC value not larger than 16 mg/L against S. aureus Mu50 and having an MIC ratio lower than 8 were classified into Category II. It is suggested that the target of the compounds of Category II is the DNA gyrase A subunit, however, they have low mutation specificity.


—Category III—

The compounds, which have a low antibacterial activity against S. aureus Mu50, i.e., an MIC value of 32 mg/L, whilst have a higher antibacterial activity against S. aureus Mu50 than against S. aureus FDA209P (MIC value), were classified into Category III.


Example 3

According to the following methods, 9 kinds of the flavones which are represented by the formulas (1) to (9) and have antibacterial activities against S. aureus Mu50 as proved in Example 1 (Nos. 1, 6, 8, 10, 26, 35, 53, 86 and 90), as well as the flavone that was revealed to have no antibacterial activity against S. aureus Mu50 (No. 37) and 2 kinds of quinolones (levofloxacin and norfloxacin) as controls were examined to know antibacterial activities against Staphylococcus aureus having the parC gene encoding topoisomerase IV and gyrA gene encoding DNA gyrase, including the mutations in the amino acid sequences of topoisomerase IV and DNA gyrase as shown in Table 13.


<Preparation of Flavones and Quinolones>

Ten kinds of the flavones and two kinds of the quinolones shown in Table 13 below were prepared in the same manner as that of Example 2.


<Measurement of MIC of Flavones and Quinolones for Staphylococcus aureus>


MIC values of the flavones and quinolone for the strains were measured in the same manners as those of Example 1, except that S. aureus Mu50 NR-1 was also used as Staphylococcus aureus in addition to S. aureus FDA209P and S. aureus Mu50, cell suspensions of the strains were prepared. The results are shown in Table 13 below. The compounds having an MIC value not higher than 32 mg/L were determined to have antibacterial activity.



S. aureus Mu50 NR1-1 mentioned in Table 13 is a strain selected stepwise from the clinically isolated S. aureus Mu50 strain with deoxynybomycin, and it has a topoisomerase IV encoded by parC in which a phenylalanine (F) residue at the 80th position is substituted with serine (S) residue (see, Hiramatsu K. et al., J. Antimicrob. Agents, 2012, June; 39 (6), 478-85).


In Table 13, the descriptions in the parentheses after the strains indicate the mutated amino acid residue and its position, as represented by (the mutation of topoisomerase IV resulting from the mutation of pare and the mutation of DNA gyrase resulting from the mutation of gyrA). The character “w” means wild-type, representing without mutation. For example, the description (S80F, w) means that serine (S) residue at the 80th position from the amino acid terminus of the topoisomerase IV is mutated with phenylalanine (F) residue, and the DNA gyrase A subunit has no mutation.











TABLE 13









MIC (mg/L)











Mu50
Mu50 NR1-1
FDA209P


Compound
(S80F, S84L)
(S80F, w)
(w, w)










Category I










Apigenin
4
>128
>128


Myricetin 3,7,3′,4′-
8
128
128


tetramethyl ether


Isopratol
16
>128
>128







Category II










Luteolin
8
32
32


Kaempferol hydrate
8
16
16







Category III










7-Methoxyflavone
32
128
128


Pachypodol
32
128
128


Quercetin dihydrate
32
64
64


Limocitrin
32
64
128







Control










Flavone
64
128
128







Quinolones










LVFX
8
1
0.125


NFLX
64
16
0.5









From the results shown in Table 13, in the measurement of the antibacterial activity by using a set of Staphylococcus aureus strains of the same type having a mutation in gyrA, all of 9 kinds of the flavones represented by the formulas (1) to (9) (Nos. 1, 6, 8, 10, 26, 35, 53, 86, and 90) were revealed to have extremely strong antibacterial activity against S. aureus Mu50, which have become quinolone-resistant due to the mutation of gyrA in which serine (S) at the 84th position of the DNA gyrase is mutated with leucine (L) residue. These results suggest that these 9 kinds of flavones are effective as a DNA gyrase inhibitor targeting a mutant DNA gyrase.


Example 4

In order to confirm that the flavones, which were found to have the high antibacterial activity against the Staphylococcus aureus in which the DNA gyrase was mutated (S84L) in Example 3, act on the mutant DNA gyrase as a target, a DNA cleavage assay was performed by using apigenin according to the following methods (see, Hiramatsu K., Igarashi M., Morimoto Y, Baba T., Umekita M., Akamatsu Y, Int. J. Antimicrob. Agents., 2012 June; 39(6), pp. 478-485, Epub 2012 Apr. 23; Fisher L. M., Pan X. S., Methods Mol. Med., 2008, 142, pp. 11-23; Tanaka M., Onodera Y., Uchida Y., Sato K., Hayakawa I., Antimicrob. Agents Chemother., 1997; 41, pp. 2362-2366).


<Preparation of Enzyme Solution>
—Preparation of Wild-Type GyrA Expression Vector—

The gene sequence encoding the wild-type GyrA of Staphylococcus aureus (henceforth also referred to as “GyrA(wt)”) shown as SEQ ID NO: 1 was cloned into the plasmid pMAL-c2 (produced by New England Biolabs) (the resultant is henceforth also referred to as “pMAL-c2-gyrA”).


—Preparation of Wild-Type GyrB Expression Vector—

The gene sequence encoding the wild-type GyrB of Staphylococcus aureus (henceforth also referred to as “GyrB(wt)”) shown as SEQ ID NO: 2 was cloned into the plasmid pMAL-c2 (produced by New England Biolabs) (the resultant is henceforth also referred to as “pMAL-c2-gyrB”).


Preparation of (a) GyrA(Wt), (b) GyrB(Wt), and (c) Mutant GyrA(S84L)—


E. coli BL21(DE3) (produced by Invitrogen) was transformed with pMAL-c2-gyrA mentioned above, with pMAL-c2-gyrB mentioned above, or with pMAL-c2-SAGAmut84 containing a mutant gyrA encoding the amino acid sequence of GyrA(wt) in which serine residue at the 84th position from the amino terminus is substituted with a leucine residue (see, Hiramatsu K., Igarashi M., Morimoto Y, Baba T., Umekita M., Akamatsu Y., Int. J. Antimicrob. Agents, 2012 June; 39(6), 478-85). To the culture medium of the resulting transformed Escherichia coli, 1 mM isopropyl-6-thiogalactopyranoside (produced by Wako Pure Chemical Industries) was added to induce expression of maltose-binding GyrA(wt), maltose-binding GyrB(wt), or maltose-binding mutant GyrA(S84L), and the bacterium was cultured overnight at 25° C. After completion of the culture, the cells were collected, and suspended in a buffer (20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0), 200 mM sodium chloride, 1 mM ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), 1 mM dithiothreitol (DTT)), a protein extracting reagent (10× BugBuster (registered trademark), produced by Novagen) in a volume of 1/10 of the volume of the buffer, and 2.5 μL/10 mL of the buffer of Benzonase (registered trademark) nuclease (produced by Novagen) were added, the mixture was left standing at 25° C. for 30 minutes, and the cells were disrupted and lysed to obtain a disrupted cell suspension containing the maltose-binding GyrA(wt), maltose-binding GyrB(wt), or maltose-binding mutant GyrA(S84L).


Then, each disrupted cell suspension mentioned above was added to a column filled with an amylose resin covalently bound with maltose (produced by Novagen). A buffer (20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0), 200 mM sodium chloride, 1 mM EDTA) containing 10 mM maltose was added to the column to elute the maltose-binding GyrA(wt), maltose-binding GyrB(wt), and maltose-binding mutant GyrA(S84L).


To each eluate, 4 units/1 mL of the eluate of protease (Factor Xa, produced by Amersham) was added, and the mixture was left standing at 25° C. for 3 hours and 30 minutes to cleave the maltose-binding proteins, GyrA(wt), GyrB(wt), and mutant GyrA(S84L) from the maltose-binding GyrA(wt), maltose-binding GyrB(wt), and maltose-binding mutant GyrA(S84L).


Then, GyrA(wt), GyrB(wt), and mutant GyrA(S84L) were concentrated by using an ultrafiltration unit (YM-50 Filter Unit, produced by Millipore).


The concentrated GyrA(wt), GyrB(wt), and mutant GyrA(S84L) were each suspended in a buffer (35 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.5), 24 mM potassium chloride, 6 mM magnesium chloride, 1.8 mM spermidine, 0.36 mg/mL bovine serum albumin, 5 mM DTT, 50 volume % glycerol) at a concentration of 1 μg/μL for GyrA(wt), 2 μg/μL for GyrB(wt), or 1 μg/μL for mutant GyrA(S84L).


<DNA Cleavage Assay>

—Cleavage of Plasmid DNA with GyrA(Wt) and GyrB(Wt)—


A substrate plasmid DNA, pTWV228 (0.4 μg, produced by Takara Bio), and levofloxacin (LVFX) or apigenin were added to a buffer (35 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.5), 24 mM potassium chloride, 6 mM magnesium chloride, 1.8 mM spermidine, 0.36 mg/mL bovine serum albumin, 5 mM DTT), and 0.15 μL of the enzyme solution of GyrA(wt) and 0.2 μL of the enzyme solution of GyrB(wt) were added to the mixture to prepare a reaction mixture in a total volume of 20 μL.


Levofloxacin was added at a final concentration of 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, or 32 μg/mL. Apigenin was added at a final concentration of 0, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, or 128 μg/mL.


The aforementioned reaction solution was left standing at 25° C. for 30 minutes to allow the reaction. Subsequently, a 6 mass % solution of sodium laurylsulfate (2 μL) and a 5 mg/mL solution of Proteinase K (2 μL, produced by Wako Pure Chemical Industries) were added to the reaction solution, and the mixture was left standing at 37° C. for 30 minutes to separate GyrA(wt) and GyrB(wt) bound to DNA.


Then, the whole volume of the solution in which GyrA(wt) and GyrB(wt) were cleaved was subjected to electrophoresis on 1 mass % agarose gel to visualize the resultants of the reaction. The results are shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. In FIGS. 1 and 2, “S” represents the substrate plasmid DNA having a superhelix structure, “L” represents linear double-stranded DNA formed by cleavage of the aforementioned substrate plasmid DNA with the DNA gyrase, and “N” represents double-stranded DNA in which one strand of the double-strand substrate plasmid DNA was cleaved by the DNA gyrase.


Further, intensities of the bands in the visualized images shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 were quantified by using software (ImageJ v. 10.2, National Institutes of Health, http://rsb.info.nih.gov/ij/), and IC50 values were calculated by the method of Fisher L. M., Pan X. S., Antimicrob. Agents Chemother., 1999, 43(5), 1129-36.


Specifically, the intensities of the bands of “S”, “L”, and “N” were measured for each concentration of levofloxacin or apigenin by using the aforementioned software. Then, the total value of the intensities of the bands of “S”, “L”, and “N” was calculated for each concentration, and the result was used as “total DNA amount” (equation 1 mentioned below). Further, the total value of the intensities of the bands of “L” and “N” was also calculated, and the result was used as “amount of cleaved DNA” (equation 2 mentioned below). Then, the ratio (%) of the amount of the substrate plasmid DNA to the total DNA amount mentioned above was calculated in accordance with the following equation 3, and the ratio (%) of the amount of the cleaved DNA to the total DNA amount mentioned above was calculated in accordance with the following equation 4. IC50 value of levofloxacin or apigenin was calculated from the ratio of the cleaved DNA. The results are shown in Table 14 below.





Total DNA amount=S+L+N  (Equation 1)





Amount of cleaved DNA=L+N  (Equation 2)





Ratio of substrate plasmid DNA (%)=S/(S+L+N)×100  (Equation 3)





Ratio of cleaved DNA amount (%)=(L+N)/(S+L+×100  (Equation 4)


<DNA Cleavage Assay>

—Cleavage of Plasmid DNA with Mutants GyrA(S84L) and GyrB(Wt)—


An assay was performed in the same manner as that of the cleavage of the plasmid DNA with GyrA(wt) and GyrB(wt) mentioned above, provided that 0.15 μL, of an enzyme solution of mutant GyrA(S84L) and 0.2 μL of the enzyme solution of GyrB(wt) were added instead of 0.154 of the enzyme solution of GyrA(wt) and 0.2 μL of the enzyme solution of GyrB(wt). The results of the agarose gel electrophoresis are shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. In FIGS. 3 and 4, the symbols “S”, “L”, and “N” have the same meanings as those explained for FIGS. 1 and 2.


IC50 value of levofloxacin or apigenin was also calculated from the visualized images shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 in the same manner as that used for the calculation using the results shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The results are shown in Table 15 shown below.











TABLE 14









GyrA(wt) + GyrB(wt)













Ratio of






substrate
Ratio of



Concentration
plasmid DNA
cleaved DNA
IC50


Compound
[μg/mL]
(%)
(%)
(μg/mL)














LVFX
0
95
5
2



0.5
68
32



1
57
43



2
42
58



4
39
61



8
36
64



16
30
70



32
33
67


Apigenin
0
94
6
>128



2
66
34



4
65
35



8
64
36



16
65
35



32
60
40



64
57
43



128
61
39





S: Substrate plasmid DNA having superhelix structure


L: Linear double-stranded DNA formed by cleavage of the substrate plasmid DNA


N: Double-stranded DNA formed by cleavage of one strand of the double-stranded substrate plasmid DNA















TABLE 15









GyrA(S84L) + GyrB(wt)













Ratio of






substrate
Ratio of



Concentration
plasmid DNA
cleaved DNA
IC50


Compound
[μg/mL]
(%)
(%)
(μg/mL)














LVFX
0
94
6
>32



0.5
85
15



1
85
15



2
82
18



4
82
18



8
81
19



16
87
13



32
78
22


Apigenin
0
96
4
8



2
53
47



4
54
46



8
46
54



16
37
63



32
11
89



64
35
65



128
18
82





S: Substrate plasmid DNA having superhelix structure


L: Linear double-stranded DNA formed by cleavage of the substrate plasmid DNA


N: Double-stranded DNA formed by cleavage of one strand of the double-stranded substrate plasmid DNA






The DNA cleavage assay is a method for evaluating an inhibitory action of a flavone or quinolone for DNA gyrase by detecting whether or not DNAs cleaved by DNA gyrase are recombined. Specifically, in FIGS. 1 to 4, when, a DNA gyrase inhibitory activity of levofloxacin or apigenin is observed, “S” decreases in a levofloxacin or apigenin concentration-dependent manner, the ratios of “N” and “L” correspondingly increase, and in Tables 14 and 15, the ratio of the cleaved DNA increases.


As seen from the results shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, levofloxacin exhibited a concentration-dependent inhibitory activity against the wild-type DNA gyrase (FIG. 1), whilst it exhibited no inhibitory activity against the mutant DNA gyrase (FIG. 3).


In contrast, apigenin did not exhibit any inhibitory activity against the wild-type DNA gyrase (FIG. 2), whilst it exhibited a concentration-dependent inhibitory activity against the mutant DNA gyrase (FIG. 4).


Further, from the results shown in Tables 14 and 15, the IC50 values of apigenin indicating binding affinity for the DNA gyrase and the substrate plasmid DNA at the time of formation of the complex of these were higher than 128 μg/mL (higher than 473.7 μM) when GyrA(wt) and GyrB(wt) were used as the enzyme solutions, and about 8 μg/mL (29.6 μM) when the mutant GyrA(S84L) and GyrB(wt) were used. Therefore, apigenin is suggested to have a binding inhibitory activity specific to GyrA(S84L).


Example 5

Emergence frequency of levofloxacin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was examined in the presence or absence of apigenin by using a levofloxacin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus strain according to the following method.


<Preculture of Bacterium>

The levofloxacin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus strain MS5935-1 (strain in which the 80th serine residue from the amino terminus of the wild-type topoisomerase IV encoded by parC is mutated with phenylalanine residue, see, Hiramatsu K., Igarashi M., Morimoto Y, Baba T., Umekita M., Akamatsu Y., Int. J. Antimicrob. Agents, 2012 June; 39(6), 478-85) was cultured overnight at 37° C. with shaking in 4 mL of TBS (produced by Dickinson). After completion of the culture, the cells were suspended in fresh TBS, and the cell suspension was adjusted to have an absorbance of 0.3 measured at 578 nm. Then, the cell suspension was diluted 10,000 times with TBS. This diluted cell suspension was inoculated (0.1 mL each) into ten test tubes containing 4 mL each of TBS, and preculture was carried out overnight at 37° C.


The MIC value of levofloxacin for S. aureus MS5935-1 obtained by the same method as that used for the measurement of MIC for Staphylococcus aureus mentioned in Example 2 was 0.5 mg/L, and the MIC value of apigenin similarly obtained was higher than 128 mg/L.


<Preparation of Agar Plate Medium>
—Preparation of Agar Plate Medium Containing Levofloxacin—

Levofloxacin was dissolved in sterilized water at a concentration of 40 mg/L. This solution of levofloxacin was added on plates in a volume of 1 mL/plate, and 9 mL of M-H (Mueller Hinton) Agar (produced by Becton, Dickinson and Company) was added to each plate. Five of such plates were prepared.


The final concentration of levofloxacin in the levofloxacin-containing agar plate medium was 4 mg/L.


Preparation of Agar Plate Medium Containing Apigenin and Levofloxacin—

Apigenin was dissolved in DMSO at a concentration of 640 mg/L. Further, levofloxacin was dissolved in sterilized water at a concentration of 80 mg/L. Each of the solutions of apigenin and levofloxacin was added on plates in a volume of 0.5 mL/plate, and 9 mL of M-H (Mueller Hinton) Agar (produced by Becton, Dickinson and Company) was added to each plate. Five of such plates were prepared.


The final concentrations of apigenin and levofloxacin in the apigenin and levofloxacin-containing agar plate medium were 32 mg/L and 4 mg/L, respectively.


<Culture of Bacterium on Agar Medium>

The aforementioned preculture medium was concentrated by centrifugation to a volume of 150 μL, 15 μL of the concentrate was separated for colony counting, the whole volume of the remaining medium was inoculated onto the aforementioned agar plate medium, and culture was performed at 37° C. for 2 days.


<Calculation of Emergence Frequency of Levofloxacin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus>


Number of the colonies formed on each agar plate medium after the culture of 2 days was counted. The emergence frequency of levofloxacin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was calculated according to the following equation using the number of colonies and the number of bacterial cells inoculated onto each agar plate medium (CFU, colony forming unit). Further, from the calculated emergence frequency of the levofloxacin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, emergence frequency of levofloxacin resistance mutation and 95% confidence interval (CI range) were calculated by using FALCOR (Fluctuation AnaLysis CalculatOR, http://www.keshaysingh.org/protocols/FALCOR.html, see, Hall B. M. et al., Bioinformatics., 2009, 25(12), 1564-5). The results are shown in Table 16 below. Emergence frequency of levofloxacin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus=(Number of grown colonies)/(Number of cells inoculated onto levofloxacin-containing agar plate medium or apigenin and levofloxacin-containing agar plate medium)















TABLE 16







Agar
Compound
Number of

Emergence frequency
Emergence frequency of



plate
concentration in agar
inoculated
Number of
of levofloxacin-
levofloxacin resistance


medium
plate medium (mg/L)
cells (×109
grown colonies
resistant bacteria
mutation
95% CI range (upper














No.
LVFX
Apigenin
CFU)
(colonies)
(×10−9)
(mutations/genera)
bound/lower bound)

















1
4
0
12.3
83
6.74
1.45 × 10−9
2.11/0.89


2
4
0
14.7
78
5.31


3
4
0
16.7
66
3.96


4
4
0
8.6
33
3.86


5
4
0
12.0
328
27.3


1
4
32
14.9
4
0.27
0.05 × 10−9
0.1158/0.0086


2
4
32
14.6
0
<0.07


3
4
32
12.5
0
<0.08


4
4
32
12.6
0
<0.08


5
4
32
12.5
14
1.12









From the results shown in Table 16, when the bacterium was cultured on the agar plate medium containing only levofloxacin (levofloxacin-containing agar plate medium), the emergence frequency of levofloxacin resistance mutation was 1/29 of that observed when the bacterium was cultured on the agar plate medium containing levofloxacin and apigenin (Emergence frequency of levofloxacin resistance mutation on the agar plate medium containing levofloxacin and apigenin/Emergence frequency of levofloxacin resistance mutation on the agar plate medium containing levofloxacin=1/29), and thus significantly lower than the latter.


This result suggests that the flavones classified into the category I in Example 2 including apigenin can suppress emergence of quinolone-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, when they are used together with a quinolone.


The results of Examples 1 to 5 suggest that the flavones represented by the structural formulas (1) to (9) have inhibitory activity against the DNA gyrase of Staphylococcus aureus, and further have antibacterial activity complementary to that of quinolones, and therefore they are useful as an reverse antibacterial agent.


The S84L mutation of the DNA gyrase is the most frequently occurring mutation found in clinically separated quinolone-resistant MRSA and Staphylococcus aureus strains (see, Hiramatsu K., Igarashi M., Morimoto Y., Baba T., Umekita M., Akamatsu Y, Int. J. Antimicrob. Agents, 2012 June; 39(6), 478-85). Therefore, it was found that the flavones represented by the formulas (1) to (9) that exhibit effectiveness against Staphylococcus aureus strains having the S84L mutation in the DNA gyrase can specifically inhibit the growth of quinolone-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains, and can further suppress emergence of quinolone-resistant Staphylococcus aureus due to use of quinolones.


Example 6

J-Q20 was synthesized according to the following scheme.




embedded image


embedded image


(a) 4-(2,2-Dibromovinyl)-1-(phenylmethoxy)benzene (2)

To a solution of CBr4 (15.7 g, 47.2 mmol) in dichloromethane (200 mL) was added triphenylphosphine (24.7 g, 94.4 mmol) at 0° C. under nitrogen atmosphere. After completion, a solution of the compound 1 (5.0 g, 23.6 mmol) in dichloromethane (20 mL) was added dropwise to the mixture at 0° C. under nitrogen atmosphere. The reaction mixture was warmed to room temperature and stirred for 30 minutes. Water (300 mL) was poured into the reaction mixture and extracted with dichloromethane (2×200 mL) The combined organic layers were washed with brine (500 mL), dried over Na2SO4, and concentrated in vacuo. The residue was purified by silica gel column chromatography (petroleum ether/ethyl acetate=10:1) to afford the compound 2 (9.22 g, yield 96.5%) as a white solid.



1H NMR (CDCl3, 300 MHz): δ 5.08 (s, 2H), 6.94-6.97 (m, 2H), 7.33-7.44 (m, 5H), 7.49-7.52 (m, 2H).


(b) 4-Ethynyl-1-(phenylmethoxy)benzene (3)

To a solution of the compound 2 (8.29 g, 22.7 mmol) in dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO, 100 mL) was added Cs2CO3 (22.2 g, 68.0 mmol) and heated to 110° C. overnight. Then the reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature and poured into water (500 mL), and extracted with ethyl acetate (2×300 mL). The combined organic layers were washed with brine (500 mL), dried over Na2SO4, and concentrated in vacuo. The residue was purified by silica gel column chromatography (petroleum ether/ethyl acetate=50:1) to afford the compound 3 (3.17 g, yield: 68%) as a white solid.



1H NMR (CDCl3, 300 MHz): δ 3.00 (s, 1H), 5.07 (s, 2H), 6.90-6.94 (m, 2H), 7.33-7.455 (m, 7H).


(c) 3-Bromo-2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzaldehyde (5)

A solution of the compound 4 (3.04 g, 20.0 mmol) in dichloromethane (120 mL) was cooled to −20° C. Then aluminum chloride (2.66 g, 20.0 mmol) was added in three portions. The suspension was stirred for 15 minutes before a solution of bromine (3.2 g, 20.0 mmol) in dichloromethane (20 mL) was added over 20 minutes. It was stirred overnight while warming to room temperature. Then a saturated solution of Na2SO3 (30 mL) and hydrochloric acid (4 M, 60 mL) was added in order. The aqueous layer was extracted two times with dichloromethane (30 mL each). It was dried over magnesium sulfate, filtered, and concentrated in vacuo. After purification by column chromatography, the compound 5 was isolated as a white solid (2.73 g, 61%).



1H NMR (CDCl3, 300 MHz): δ 3.99 (s, 3H), 6.60-6.63 (d, J=8.7 Hz, 1H), 7.49 (d, J=8.7 Hz, 1H), 9.71 (s, 1H), 11.9 (s, 1H).


(d) 3-Bromo-2,4-dimethoxybenzaldehyde (6)

A mixture of the compound 5 (1.00 g, 4.35 mmol), iodomethane (1.23 g, 8.69 mmol) and K2CO3 (1.2 g, 8.69 mmol) in dry dimethylformamide (15 mL) was stirred at room temperature overnight. The reaction mixture was poured into water (50 mL) and extracted with ethyl acetate (3×30 mL). The combined organic layers were washed with brine (50 mL), dried over Na2SO4, and concentrated in vacuo to afford the compound 6 (890 mg, 84%) as a white solid.



1H NMR (CDCl3, 300 MHz): δ 3.98 (s, 6H), 6.79 (d, J=8.7 Hz, 1H), 7.86 (d, J=8.7 Hz, 1H), 10.22 (s, 1H).


(e) 3-Cyclopropyl-2,4-dimethoxybenzaldehyde (7)

To a mixture of a solution of the compound 6 (2.45 g, 10.0 mmol), cyclopropylboronic acid (1.29 g, 15.0 mmol), tricyclohexylphosphonium tetrafluoroborate (368 mg, 1.00 mmol), K3PO4 (7.42 g, 35.0 mmol) in toluene (35 mL) and water (2 mL) was added Pd(OAc)2 (154 mg, 0.5 mmol) and stirred at 95° C. under nitrogen atmosphere overnight. The mixture was cooled to room temperature and filtered. The filtrate was poured into water (100 mL), and extracted with ethyl acetate (2×50 mL). The combined organic layers were washed with brine (100 mL), dried over Na2SO4 and concentrated in vacuo. The residue was purified by column chromatography to afford the compound 7 (1.6 g, yield 78%) as a colorless oil.



1H NMR (CDCl3, 300 MHz): δ 0.85-0.94 (m, 4H), 1.70-1.74 (m, 1H), 3.86 (s, 3H), 3.93 (s, 3H), 6.67 (d, J=8.7 Hz, 1H), 7.69 (d, J=8.7 Hz, 1H), 10.22 (s, 1H).


(f) 1-(3-Cyclopropyl-2,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-3-[4-(phenylmethoxy)phenyl]prop-2-yn-1-ol (8)

To a solution of the compound 3 (1.21 g, 5.83 mmol) in tetrahydrofuran (THF, 20 mL) was added n-BuLi (2.4 mL, 2.5 M in THF) dropwise at −65° C. under nitrogen atmosphere. After stirred for 0.5 hours at this temperature, a solution of the compound 7 (1.00 g, 4.85 mmol) in THF (2 mL) was added slowly to maintain the temperature between −65° C. and −60° C. Then the mixture was warmed to ambient temperature, and the reaction was quenched with saturated NH4C1 aqueous. The aqueous layer was extracted with ethyl acetate (50 mL×2). The combined organic layers were washed with brine, dried over Na2SO4, and concentrated to give a crude product of the compound 8 (2.28 g) as a yellow solid, which was used directly in the next step.


(g) 1-(3-Cyclopropyl-2,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-3-[4-(phenylmethoxy)phenyl]prop-2-yn-1-one (9)

A mixture of the compound 8 (2.28 g, 5.50 mmol) and MnO2 (2.40 g, 27.5 mmol) in chloroform (25 mL) was refluxed overnight under nitrogen atmosphere. After the reaction mixture was filtered, the filtrate was concentrated, and the residue was purified by column chromatography (petroleum ether/ethyl acetate=10:1) to give the compound 9 (1.5 g, 66%) as a yellow oil.



1H NMR (300 MHz, CDCl3): δ 0.92-0.94 (m, 4H), 1.77-1.82 (m, 1H), 3.88 (s, 3H), 3.95 (s, 3H), 5.10 (s, 2H), 6.67 (d, J=9.0 Hz, 1H), 6.96-7.00 (m, 2H), 7.33-7.43 (m, 5H), 7.57-7.61 (m, 2H), 7.96 (d, J=9.0 Hz, 1H).


(h) 8-Cyclopropyl-3-iodo-7-methoxy-2-[4-(phenylmethoxy)phenyl]chromen-4-one (10)

The compound 9 (1.5 g, 3.64 mmol) and ICl (5.46 mL, 5.46 mmol) were each dissolved in dry dichloromethane (25 mL) and cooled to −70° C. to give solutions A and B respectively. The solution B was added to the solution A over 20 minutes and stirred for 1.5 hours at this temperature. Saturated Na2S2O3 aqueous (30 mL) and NaCl (40 mL) were added. The organic layer was dried over Na2SO4, and concentrated, and the residue was purified by silica gel column chromatography (petroleum ether:ethyl acetate=10:1) to give the compound 10 (1.8 g, 95%) as a yellowish solid.



1H NMR (300 MHz, CDCl3): δ 0.92-0.96 (m, 4H), 1.88-1.92 (m, 1H), 3.94 (s, 3H), 5.15 (s, 2H), 6.97 (d, J=9.3 Hz, 1H), 7.09-7.13 (m, 2H), 7.35-7.48 (m, 5H), 7.84-7.87 (m, 2H), 8.10 (d, J=9.0 Hz, 1H).


(i) 8-Cyclopropyl-7-methoxy-2-[4-(phenylmethoxy)phenyl]chromen-4-one (11)

A solution of the compound 10 (524 mg, 1.00 mmol), sodium formate (208 mg, 2.00 mmol) and Pd(PPh3)2Cl2 (35 mg, 0.05 mmol) in DMF (8 mL) was stirred at 95° C. under nitrogen atmosphere for 2 hours. TLC showed the reaction was completed. Ethyl acetate (100 mL) and water (100 mL) were added. The organic phase was washed with water (100 mL) and brine, dried over Na2SO4, and concentrated in vacuo. The residue was slurried with 1-methoxy-1,1-dimethylethane (MTBE) to afford the compound 11 (400 mg, 100%) as a yellow solid.



1H NMR, (300 MHz, CDCl3): δ 0.88-1.09 (m, 4H), 1.93-2.02 (m, 1H), 3.90 (s, 3H), 5.21 (s, 2H), 6.83 (s, 1H), 7.14-7.22 (m, 3H), 7.30-7.47 (m, 5H), 7.86 (d, J=8.7 Hz, 1H), 8.02-8.06 (m, 2H).


(j) 8-Cyclopropyl-7-hydroxy-2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)chromen-4-one (J-Q21)

A solution of NaH (259 mg, 60%, 13.3 mmol) and ethanethiol (1.0 mL, 13.6 mmol) in dry DMF (20 mL) was stirred for 30 minutes at room temperature, a solution of the compound 11 (750 mg, 1.89 mmol) in DMF (15 mL) was added, and heated at 150° C. overnight. The reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature, poured into water (100 mL), and extracted with ethyl acetate (2×80 mL). The combined organic layers were washed with brine (100 mL), dried over Na2SO4 and concentrated in vacuo. The residue was purified by silica gel column chromatography (petroleum ether/ethyl acetate) to give J-Q21 (120 mg, 21%) as a white solid.



1H NMR: (300 MHz, DMSO-d6): δ 0.90-1.06 (m, 4H), 1.91-1.98 (m, 1H), 6.70 (s, 1H), 6.88-6.94 (m, 3H), 7.68 (d, J=8.7 Hz, 1H), 7.90-7.95 (m, 2H), 10.22 (br s, 1H), 10.37 (br s, 1H).


Example 7

J-Q12.1 was synthesized according to the following scheme.




embedded image


(a) 1-(2,4-Bis-benzyloxy-6-hydroxyphenyl)-ethanone (13)

To a solution of the compound 12 (8.00 g, 43.0 mmol) and K2CO3 (13.7 g, 99.1 mmol) in DMF (100 mL) was added benzyl bromide (15.1 g, 88.3 mmol), and the mixture was stirred at room temperature overnight. DMF was removed under vacuum. Ethyl acetate and water was added. The organic layer was washed with brine, dried over Na2SO4, and concentrated to give a residue. The residue was purified by silica gel chromatography (ethyl acetate:petroleum ether=40:1) to give a crude product of the compound 13 (7.55 g) as a yellow solid.


(b) 1-(2,4-Bisbenzyloxy-6-hydroxyphenyl)-3-(4-methoxyphenyl)propen-one (14)

To a solution of the compound 13 (4.00 g, 11.5 mmol) in dioxane (40 mL) was added 50% NaOH (40 mL), and the mixture was stirred at 30° C. for 30 minutes. A solution of 4-methoxybenzaldehyde in dioxane was added, and stirred at 30° C. for 16 hours. 3 N HCl was added to adjust pH=6 to 7, and ethyl acetate was added to extracted the product (100 mL×3). The combined organic layers were washed with water (100 mL) and brine (100 mL), dried over anhydrous NaSO4, and concentrated in vacuo, and the residue was purified by silica gel chromatography (ethyl acetate:petroleum ether=10:1) to afford a crude product of the compound 14 (4.54 g) as a yellow solid.


(c) 5,7-Bisbenzyloxy-8-iodo-2-(4-methoxyphenyl)-chromen-4-one (15)

To a solution of the compound 14 (4.54 g, 8.37 mmol) in anhydrous DMSO (300 mL) was added 12 (4.88 g, 19.2 mmol) under a nitrogen atmosphere. After allowed to stir at 145° C. for 15 hours, the mixture was cooled to room temperature. Ethyl acetate (1000 mL) was added, and the reaction was quenched with saturated Na2SO3 aqueous. Then the organic layer was washed with water and brine (100 mL×4). The organic layer was dried over Na2SO4, and concentrated in vacuo, and the residue was purified by silica gel column chromatography (dichloromethane:petroleum ether=1:2) to give the compound 15 as a yellow oil (900 mg).



1H NMR (300 MHz, CDCl3): δ 5.15 (2H, s), 5.26 (2H, s), 6.57 (1H, s), 6.53 (1H, s), 7.08 (2H, d, J=8.7 Hz), 7.36-7.45 (8H, m), 7.52 (2H, d, J=7.5 Hz), 7.82 (2H, d, J=8.4 Hz).


(d) 5,7-Bisbenzyloxy-8-cyclopropyl-2-(4-methoxyphenyl)-chromen-4-one (16)

A solution of the compound 15 (1.00 g, 1.73 mmol), cyclopropylboronic acid (2.00 g, 23.3 mmol), Pd(PPh3)4 (200 mg), and KsPO4.3H2O (2.0 g, 7.6 mmol) in toluene (300 mL) was heated up to 80° C. and stirred for 24 hours under nitrogen atmosphere. After cooling down to room temperature, the mixture was diluted with ethyl acetate (300 mL) and adjusted to pH=6 to 7 with 2 N HCl. The organic layer was washed with water (100 mL) and brine (100 mL), dried over anhydrous Na2SO4 and concentrated in vacuo. The residue was purified by silica gel column chromatography (ethyl acetate:petroleum ether=5:1) to afford the compound 16 (500 mg, yield: 18%) as a yellow solid.



1H NMR (300 MHz, CDCl3): δ 0.88-0.92 (2H, m), 1.01-1.06 (2H, m), 1.83-1.89 (1H, m), 5.15 (2H, s), 5.17 (2H, s), 6.53 (1H, s), 6.56 (1H, s), 7.06 (2H, d, J=9.0 Hz), 7.34-7.52 (10H, m), 7.82 (2H, d, J=9.3 Hz), 13.10 (1H, s).


(e) 8-Cyclopropyl-5,7-dihydroxy-2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-chromen-4-one (J-Q12.1)

To a solution of the compound 16 (500 mg, 1.02 mmol) in dichloromethane (50 mL) cooled to −70° C. was added 1 N solution of BBr3 in dichloromethane (15 mL). The mixture was stirred at room temperature for 2 hours. Methanol was added to quench the reaction. The mixture was then adjusted to pH=5 to 6 with saturated sodium hydrogencarbonate aqueous, and the aqueous layer was extracted with dichloromethane (50 mL×3). The combined organic layers were washed with brine (50 mL), dried over anhydrous Na2SO4, and concentrated in vacuo. The residue was purified by Prep-HPLC and lyophilized to afford the compound J-Q12.1 (93 mg, yield: 46%) as a yellow solid.



1H NMR (300 MHz, CDCl3): δ 0.80-0.85 (2H, m), 0.96-1.00 (2H, m), 3.29-3.34 (1H, m), 6.44 (1H, s), 6.55 (1H, s), 6.91 (1H, d, J=9.0 Hz), 7.81 (1H, d, J=9.0 Hz).


Example 8

In the same manner as that of Example 1, MIC values of M-246, M-21, J-Q21, and J-Q12.1 for Staphylococcus aureus were measured. M-246 and M-21 were obtained as commercial products, and as J-Q21 and J-Q12.1, those synthesized in Examples 6 and 7 were used. The MIC values (mg/L) for the quinolone-resistant methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Mu50 and quinolone-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus FDA209P are shown in Table 17.













TABLE 17







Test compound
Mu50
FDA209P




















M-246
4
128



M-21
16
64



J-Q21
4
>128



J-Q12.1
8
8










Example 9

The DNA cleavage assay was performed with M-246 in the same manner as that used in Example 4. The results are shown in Table 18.












TABLE 18









GyrA(wt) + GyrB(wt)
GyrA(S84L) + GyrB(wt)















Concentration
Ratio of substrate
Ratio of cleaved
IC50
Ratio of substrate
Ratio of cleaved
IC50


Compound
[μg/mL]
plasmid DNA (%)
DNA (%)
(μg/mL)
plasmid DNA (%)
DNA (%)
(μg/mL)

















M246
0
92
8
16
93
7
1



0.5
82
18

54
46



1
77
23

47
53



2
71
29

39
61



4
60
40

20
80



8
53
47

16
84



16
44
56

10
90



32
33
67

5
95


Levofloxacin
4
27
73

83
17









INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The antibacterial agent of the present invention can exhibit potent antibacterial activity against bacteria that have acquired resistance to quinolones, especially a quinolone-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Therefore, the agent is useful for a prophylactic and/or therapeutic treatment of, for example, MRSA infectious disease, VISA infectious disease, VRSA infectious disease, and the like. Further, when the antibacterial agent of the present invention is used in combination with a quinolone, the antibacterial agent of the present invention acts on bacteria that have acquired resistance to quinolones, and the quinolone acts on quinolone-susceptible bacteria. Therefore, an extremely effective prophylactic and/or therapeutic treatment can be achieved irrespective of the type of etiologic bacterium. Furthermore, if a quinolone and the antibacterial agent of the present invention are used in combination, emergence frequency of quinolone-resistant bacteria can be notably suppressed.

Claims
  • 1. A prophylactic and/or therapeutic method of treatment for an infectious disease caused by a bacterium that has acquired resistance to quinolones, the method comprising administering as an active ingredient an antibacterial agent comprising a compound represented by the following general formula (I):
  • 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein R1 is a hydrogen atom, a hydroxyl group, or a methoxy group, R4 is a hydrogen atom, a hydroxyl group, or a methoxy group, R5 is a hydrogen atom, a cyclopropyl group, or a methoxy group, R2′ is a hydrogen atom, a hydroxyl group, or a methoxy group, and R3′ is a hydrogen atom, a hydroxyl group, or a methoxy group.
  • 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the bacterium has acquired resistance to quinolones through introduction of a mutation into gyrase.
  • 4. The method according to claim 1, which comprises administering, as an active ingredient, a compound selected from the group consisting of: a compound of the general formula (I), wherein R1 is a hydroxyl group, R2 is a hydroxyl group, R3 is a hydrogen atom, R4 is a hydroxyl group, R5 is a hydrogen atom, R1′ is a hydrogen atom, R2′ is a hydroxyl group, R3′ is a hydroxyl group, R4′ is a hydrogen atom, and R5′ is a hydrogen atom;a compound of the general formula (I), wherein R1 is a hydroxyl group, R2 is a hydroxyl group, R3 is a hydrogen atom, R4 is a hydroxyl group, R5 is a hydrogen atom, R1′ is a hydrogen atom, R2′ is a hydrogen atom, R3′ is a hydroxyl group, R4′ is a hydrogen atom, and R5′ is a hydrogen atom;a compound of the general formula (I), wherein R1 is a hydroxyl group, R2 is a hydroxyl group, R3 is a hydrogen atom, R4 is a hydroxyl group, R5 is a methoxy group, R1′ is a hydrogen atom, R2′ is a methoxy group, R3′ is a hydroxyl group, R4′ is a hydrogen atom, and R5′ is a hydrogen atom;a compound of the general formula (I), wherein R1 is a hydrogen atom, R2 is a hydroxyl group, R3 is a hydrogen atom, R4 is a hydroxyl group, R5 is a hydrogen atom, R1′ is a hydrogen atom, R2′ is a hydroxyl group, R3′ is a hydroxyl group, R4′ is a hydrogen atom, and R5′ is a hydrogen atom;a compound of the general formula (I), wherein R1 is a hydrogen atom, R2 is a hydroxyl group, R3 is a hydrogen atom, R4 is a hydroxyl group, R5 is a hydrogen atom, R1′ is a hydrogen atom, R2′ is a hydrogen atom, R3′ is a hydroxyl group, R4′ is a hydrogen atom, and R5′ is a hydrogen atom;a compound of the general formula (I), wherein R1 is a hydrogen atom, R2 is a hydrogen atom, R3 is a hydrogen atom, R4 is a methoxy group, R5 is a hydrogen atom, R1′ is a hydrogen atom, R2′ is a hydrogen atom, R3′ is a hydrogen atom, R4′ is a hydrogen atom, and R5′ is a hydrogen atom;a compound of the general formula (I), wherein R1 is a hydrogen atom, R2 is a hydrogen atom, R3 is a hydrogen atom, R4 is a methoxy group, R5 is a hydrogen atom, R1′ is a hydrogen atom, R2′ is a hydrogen atom, R3′ is a hydroxyl group, R4′ is a hydrogen atom, and R5′ is a hydrogen atom;a compound of the general formula (I), wherein R1 is a methoxy group, R2 is a hydroxyl group, R3 is a hydrogen atom, R4 is a methoxy group, R5 is a hydrogen atom, R1′ is a hydrogen atom, R2′ is a methoxy group, R3′ is a methoxy group, R4′ is a hydroxyl group, and R5′ is a hydrogen atom;a compound of the general formula (I), wherein R1 is a methoxy group, R2 is a hydroxyl group, R3 is a hydrogen atom, R4 is a methoxy group, R5 is a hydrogen atom, R1′ is a hydrogen atom, R2′ is a methoxy group, R3′ is a hydroxyl group, R4′ is a hydrogen atom, and R5′ is a hydrogen atom;a compound of the general formula (I), wherein R1 is a hydrogen atom, R2 is a hydrogen atom, R3 is a hydrogen atom, R4 is a methoxy group, R5 is a hydrogen atom, R1′ is a hydrogen atom, R2′ is a methoxy group, R3′ is a hydroxyl group, R4′ is a hydrogen atom, and R5′ is a hydrogen atom;a compound of the general formula (I), wherein R1 is a hydroxyl group, R2 is a hydroxyl group, R3 is a hydroxyl group, R4 is a hydroxyl group, R5 is a hydrogen atom, R1′ is a hydrogen atom, R2′ is a hydrogen atom, R3′ is a hydrogen atom, R4′ is a hydrogen atom, and R5′ is a hydrogen atom;a compound of the general formula (I), wherein R1 is a hydrogen atom, R2 is a hydrogen atom, R3 is a hydrogen atom, R4 is a hydroxyl group, R5 is a cyclopropyl group, R1′ is a hydrogen atom, R2′ is a hydrogen atom, R3′ is a hydroxyl group, R4′ is a hydrogen atom, and R5′ is a hydrogen atom; anda compound of the general formula (I), wherein R1 is a hydrogen atom, R2 is a hydroxyl group, R3 is a hydrogen atom, R4 is a hydroxyl group, R5 is a cyclopropyl group, R1′ is a hydrogen atom, R2′ is a hydrogen atom, R3′ is a hydroxyl group, R4′ is a hydrogen atom, and R5′ is a hydrogen atom.
  • 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the bacterium is Staphylococcus aureus.
  • 6. A method of suppressing emergence and/or proliferation of a quinolone-resistant bacterium, comprising contacting a quinolone-resistant bacterium with a compound represented by the general formula (I) according to claim 1 and a quinolone antibacterial agent.
  • 7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the bacterium that has acquired resistance to quinolones through introduction of a mutation into gyrase.
  • 8. The method according to claim 6, further comprising therapeutic treatment of an infectious disease.
  • 9. The method according to claim 1, which comprises administering a combination of the antibacterial agent according to claim 1 and a quinolone.
  • 10. The method according to claim 1, which comprises administering an antibacterial agent comprising apigenin, myricetin 3,7,3′,4′-tetramethyl ether, isopratol, luteolin, or kaempferol hydrate.
  • 11. A method of inhibiting a DNA gyrase of a bacterium that has acquired resistance to a quinolone comprising: contacting the bacterium with a compound represented by the general formula (I) according to claim 1 as an active ingredient; andinhibiting a DNA gyrase of the bacterium.
  • 12. The method according to claim 11, which suppresses emergence and/or proliferation of a quinolone-resistant bacterium.
  • 13. The method according to claim 2, which comprises administering, as an active ingredient, a compound selected from the group consisting of: a compound of the general formula (I), wherein R1 is a hydroxyl group, R2 is a hydroxyl group, R3 is a hydrogen atom, R4 is a hydroxyl group, R5 is a hydrogen atom, R1′ is a hydrogen atom, R2′ is a hydroxyl group, R3′ is a hydroxyl group, R4′ is a hydrogen atom, and R5′ is a hydrogen atom;a compound of the general formula (I), wherein R1 is a hydroxyl group, R2 is a hydroxyl group, R3 is a hydrogen atom, R4 is a hydroxyl group, R5 is a hydrogen atom, R1′ is a hydrogen atom, R2′ is a hydrogen atom, R3′ is a hydroxyl group, R4′ is a hydrogen atom, and R5′ is a hydrogen atom;a compound of the general formula (I), wherein R1 is a hydroxyl group, R2 is a hydroxyl group, R3 is a hydrogen atom, R4 is a hydroxyl group, R5 is a methoxy group, R1′ is a hydrogen atom, R2′ is a methoxy group, R3′ is a hydroxyl group, R4′ is a hydrogen atom, and R5′ is a hydrogen atom;a compound of the general formula (I), wherein R1 is a hydrogen atom, R2 is a hydroxyl group, R3 is a hydrogen atom, R4 is a hydroxyl group, R5 is a hydrogen atom, R1′ is a hydrogen atom, R2′ is a hydroxyl group, R3′ is a hydroxyl group, R4′ is a hydrogen atom, and R5′ is a hydrogen atom;a compound of the general formula (I), wherein R1 is a hydrogen atom, R2 is a hydroxyl group, R3 is a hydrogen atom, R4 is a hydroxyl group, R5 is a hydrogen atom, R1′ is a hydrogen atom, R2′ is a hydrogen atom, R3′ is a hydroxyl group, R4′ is a hydrogen atom, and R5′ is a hydrogen atom;a compound of the general formula (I), wherein R1 is a hydrogen atom, R2 is a hydrogen atom, R3 is a hydrogen atom, R4 is a methoxy group, R5 is a hydrogen atom, R1′ is a hydrogen atom, R2′ is a hydrogen atom, R3′ is a hydrogen atom, R4′ is a hydrogen atom, and R5′ is a hydrogen atom;a compound of the general formula (I), wherein R1 is a hydrogen atom, R2 is a hydrogen atom, R3 is a hydrogen atom, R4 is a methoxy group, R5 is a hydrogen atom, R1′ is a hydrogen atom, R2′ is a hydrogen atom, R3′ is a hydroxyl group, R4′ is a hydrogen atom, and R5′ is a hydrogen atom;a compound of the general formula (I), wherein R1 is a methoxy group, R2 is a hydroxyl group, R3 is a hydrogen atom, R4 is a methoxy group, R5 is a hydrogen atom, R1′ is a hydrogen atom, R2′ is a methoxy group, R3′ is a methoxy group, R4′ is a hydroxyl group, and R5′ is a hydrogen atom;a compound of the general formula (I), wherein R1 is a methoxy group, R2 is a hydroxyl group, R3 is a hydrogen atom, R4 is a methoxy group, R5 is a hydrogen atom, R1′ is a hydrogen atom, R2′ is a methoxy group, R3′ is a hydroxyl group, R4′ is a hydrogen atom, and R5′ is a hydrogen atom;a compound of the general formula (I), wherein R1 is a hydrogen atom, R2 is a hydrogen atom, R3 is a hydrogen atom, R4 is a methoxy group, R5 is a hydrogen atom, R1′ is a hydrogen atom, R2′ is a methoxy group, R3′ is a hydroxyl group, R4′ is a hydrogen atom, and R5′ is a hydrogen atom;a compound of the general formula (I), wherein R1 is a hydroxyl group, R2 is a hydroxyl group, R3 is a hydroxyl group, R4 is a hydroxyl group, R5 is a hydrogen atom, R1′ is a hydrogen atom, R2′ is a hydrogen atom, R3′ is a hydrogen atom, R4′ is a hydrogen atom, and R5′ is a hydrogen atom;a compound of the general formula (I), wherein R1 is a hydrogen atom, R2 is a hydrogen atom, R3 is a hydrogen atom, R4 is a hydroxyl group, R5 is a cyclopropyl group, R1′ is a hydrogen atom, R2′ is a hydrogen atom, R3′ is a hydroxyl group, R4′ is a hydrogen atom, and R5′ is a hydrogen atom; anda compound of the general formula (I), wherein R1 is a hydrogen atom, R2 is a hydroxyl group, R3 is a hydrogen atom, R4 is a hydroxyl group, R5 is a cyclopropyl group, R1′ is a hydrogen atom, R2′ is a hydrogen atom, R3′ is a hydroxyl group, R4′ is a hydrogen atom, and R5′ is a hydrogen atom.
Priority Claims (1)
Number Date Country Kind
2012-249415 Nov 2012 JP national
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/441,973, which is the National Stage of International Application No. PCT/JP2013/080486, filed Nov. 12, 2013, which claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-249415, filed Nov. 13, 2012. The disclosure of application Ser. No. 14/441,973 and PCT/JP2013/080486 are expressly incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

Continuations (1)
Number Date Country
Parent 14441973 May 2015 US
Child 15017932 US