Fluorine walk: The impact of fluorine in quinolone amides on their activity against African sleeping sickness

Abstract Human African Trypanosomiasis, also known as African sleeping sickness, is caused by the parasitic protozoa of the genus Trypanosoma . If there is no pharmacological intervention, the parasites can cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB), inevitably leading to death of the patients. Previous investigation identified the quinolone amide GHQ168 as a promising lead compound having a nanomolar activity against T. b. brucei . Here, the role of a fluorine substitution at different positions was investigated in regard to toxicity, pharmacokinetics, and antitrypanosomal activity. This ‘fluorine walk’ led to new compounds with improved metabolic stability and consistent activity against T. b. brucei . The ability of the new quinolone amides to cross the BBB was confirmed using an 18 F-labelled quinolone amide derivative by means of ex vivo autoradiography of a murine brain.