Synthesis, cannabinoid receptor affinity, molecular modeling studies and in vivo pharmacological evaluation of new substituted 1-aryl-5-(1H-pyrrol-1-yl)-1H-pyrazole-3-carboxamides. 2. Effect of the 3-carboxamide substituent on the affinity and selectivity profile

New substituted 1-aryl-5-(1H-pyrrol-1-yl)-1H-pyrazole-3-carboxamides were synthesized by replacing the 2,4-dichlorobenzyl and cyclohexyl moieties at the 3-carboxamide nitrogen of the previously reported CB1 receptor antagonists/inverse agonists 4 and 5. Several ligands showed potent affinity for the hCB(1) receptor, with K-i concentrations comparable to the reference compounds 1, 4 and 5, and exhibited CB1 selectivity comparable to 1 and 2. Docking experiments and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations explained the potent hCB1 binding affinity of compounds 31 and 37. According to our previous studies, 31 and 37 formed a H-bond with K3.28(192), which accounted for the high affinity for the receptor inactive state and the inverse agonist activity. The finding of inhibition of food intake following their acute administration to rats, supported the concept that the CB1 selective compounds 4 and 52 act as antagonists/inverse agonists. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.