Imidazoline receptors ligands

Extensive biochemical and pharmacological studies have determined three different subtypes of imidazoline receptors: I1-imidazoline receptors (I1-IR) involved in central inhibition of sympathicus that produce hypotensive effect; I2-imidazoline receptors (I2-IR) modulate monoamine oxidase B activity (MAO-B); I3-imidazoline receptors (I3-IR) regulate insulin secretion from pancreatic β-cells. Therefore, the I1/I2/I3 imidazoline receptors are selected as new, interesting targets for drug design and discovery. Novel selective I1/I2/I3 agonists and antagonists have been recently developed. In the present review, we provide a brief update to the field of imidazoline research, highlighting some of the chemical diversity and progress made in the 2D-QSAR, 3D-QSAR and quantitative pharmacophore development studies of I1-IR and I2-IR imidazoline receptor ligands. Theoretical studies of I3-IR ligands are not yet performed because of insufficient number of synthesized I3-IR ligands.