Small molecule antagonists of the CXCR2 and CXCR1 chemokine receptors as therapeutic agents for the treatment of inflammatory diseases

In the past eight years, numerous series of small molecule CXCR2 and CXCR1 antagonists have been disclosed. These compounds have proved to be effective inhibitors of ELR+ chemokine-induced chemotaxis of neutrophils and other immune cells in vitro and have also been efficacious in several animal models of inflammatory disease. Although some of these compounds have been reported to be in clinical development, no data on clinical studies in patients with inflammatory disease has been revealed to date. This review details the medicinal chemistry and pharmacology of the aforementioned antagonist series.