eflornithine   Click here for help

GtoPdb Ligand ID: 5176

Synonyms: 2-(difluoromethyl)ornithine (DMFO) | difluoromethylornithine | Iwilfin® | Ornidyl® | Vaniqa®
Approved drug
eflornithine is an approved drug (FDA (2000), EMA (2001))
Compound class: Synthetic organic
Comment: Eflornithine is an irreversible ornithine decarboxylase inhibitor [1,4] and is a partial inhibitor of arginase enzymes [6]. Marketed formulations may contain eflornithine hydrochloride (PubChem CID 57004).

Eflornithine has recently been reported to provide neuroprotective effects in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease (AD) [3]. The authors identify microglial-induced arginine depletion as a causative factor in AD pathophysiology in their model, focussing on inhibition of arginine catabolising enzymes as a novel mechanism by which to halt the neurodegeneration observed in AD. These findings suggest that eflornithine could be used as a starting point for medicinal chemists to identify novel compounds with anti-arginase activity in humans.
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2D Structure
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Physico-chemical Properties
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Hydrogen bond acceptors 4
Hydrogen bond donors 3
Rotatable bonds 5
Topological polar surface area 89.34
Molecular weight 182.09
XLogP -2.71
No. Lipinski's rules broken 0
SMILES / InChI / InChIKey
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Canonical SMILES NCCCC(C(=O)O)(C(F)F)N
Isomeric SMILES NCCCC(C(=O)O)(C(F)F)N
InChI InChI=1S/C6H12F2N2O2/c7-4(8)6(10,5(11)12)2-1-3-9/h4H,1-3,9-10H2,(H,11,12)
InChI Key VLCYCQAOQCDTCN-UHFFFAOYSA-N
Selectivity at enzymes
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Target Sp. Type Action Value Parameter Concentration range (M) Reference
Ornithine decarboxylase Primary target of this compound Hs Inhibitor Inhibition 4.9 pKd - 5
pKd 4.9 (Kd 1.3x10-5 M) [5]