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Antimalarial Activities of (Z)-2-(Nitroheteroarylmethylene)-3 (2H)-Benzofuranone Derivatives: In Vitro and in Vivo Assessment and Β-Hematin Formation Inhibition Activity Publisher Pubmed



Navidpour L1 ; Chibale K2, 3 ; Esmaeili S4 ; Ghiaee A4 ; Hadjesfandiari N1 ; Irani M4 ; Koulaei SA5 ; Yassa N5
Authors
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Authors Affiliations
  1. 1. Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  2. 2. South African Medical Research Council, Drug Discovery and Development Research Unit, Department of Chemistry, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa
  3. 3. Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa
  4. 4. School of Traditional Medicine, Traditional Medicine & Materia Medica Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
  5. 5. Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Source: Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy Published:2021


Abstract

A series of (Z)-2-(nitroheteroarylmethylene)-3(2H)-benzofuranones possessing nitroheteroaryl groups of nitroimidazole, nitrofuran, and nitrothiophene moieties was screened for antiplasmodium activity against a drug-sensitive strain (3D7 strain) and a multidrug-resistant (chloroquine [CQ] and pyrimethamine) strain (K1 strain) of Plasmodium falciparum. 5-Nitroimidazole and 4-nitroimidazole analogs were highly selective and active against resistant parasites, while 5-nitrofuran and 5-nitrothiophene derivatives were more potent against the 3D7 strain than against the K1 strain. Among the synthetic analogues, (Z)-6-chloro-2-(1-methyl-5-nitroimidazol-2-ylmethylene)-3(2H)-benzofuranone (compound 5h) exhibited the highest activity (50% inhibitory concentration [IC50], 0.654 nM) against the K1 strain and (Z)-7-methoxy-2-(5-nitrothiophen-2-ylmethylene)-3(2H)-benzofuranone (10g) showed the highest activity (IC50, 0.28mM) against the 3D7 strain in comparison with the activities of CQ (IC50s of 3.13 and 206.3 nM against 3D7 and K1 strains, respectively). The more active compounds, with IC50s lower than 5mg/ml (~20μM), were further studied for their cytotoxicity responses using KB cells. From these studies, 5-nitroimidazole, 4-nitroimidazole, and 5-nitrofuran analogues were shown to be cytotoxic against KB cells, while 5-nitrothiophene analogues were shown to have the least cytotoxic effects. To gain some insight into their potential contributing mechanisms of action, three derivatives, 10e, 10g, and 10h (from the nitrothiophene subgroup, possessing 6-methoxy, 7-methoxy, and 6,7-dimethoxy substituents, respectively, on their benzofuranone moieties), showing the least toxicity and highest selectivity indices were assessed for their b-hematin formation inhibition activity. Compound 10g demonstrated the highest inhibition activity (IC50, 10.78mM) in comparison with that of CQ (IC50, 2.63μM) as the reference drug. Finally, these three analogues (10e, 10g, and 10h) were further evaluated for their in vivo activities against the Plasmodium berghei/albino mouse model (Peter's test). The tested analogues were shown to be active, reducing the percentages of erythrocytes that contained parasites by 53.4, 48.8, and 32.4%, respectively. Copyright © 2021 American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.