Inhibition of monoamine oxidase by 8-[(phenylethyl)sulfanyl]caffeine analogues

Caffeine and Purine Derivatives: A Comprehensive Review on the Chemistry, Biosynthetic Pathways, Synthesis-Related Reactions, Biomedical Prospectives and Clinical Applications

Caffeine and purine derivatives represent interesting chemical moieties, which show various biological activities. Caffeine is an alkaloid that belongs to the family of methylxanthine alkaloids and it is present in food, beverages, and drugs. Coffee, tea, and some other beverages are a major source of caffeine in the human diet. Caffeine can be extracted from tea or coffee using hot water with dichloromethane or chloroform and the leftover is known as decaffeinated coffee or tea. Caffeine and its derivatives were synthesized via different procedures on small and large scales. It competitively antagonizes the adenosine receptors (ARs), which are G protein-coupled receptors largely distributed in the human body, including the heart, vessels, brain, and kidneys. Recently, many reports showed the effect of caffeine derivatives in the treatment of many diseases such as Alzheimer's, asthma, parkinsonism, and cancer. Also, it is used as an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and hypocholesterolemic agent. The present review article discusses the synthesis, reactivity, and biological and pharmacological properties of caffeine and its derivatives. The biosynthesis and biotransformation of caffeine in coffee and tea leaves and the human body were summarized in the review.

Monoamine oxidase B inhibitors based on natural privileged scaffolds: A review of systematically structural modification

Monoamine oxidase is a flavin enzyme that catalyzes the oxidation of monoamine neurotransmitters in the brain. Various toxic by-products, aldehydes and hydrogen peroxide produced during the catalytic process, can cause oxidative stress and neuronal cell death. Overexpression of MAO-B and insufficient dopamine concentration are recognized as pathological factors in neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) including Parkinson's disease (PD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Therefore, the inhibition of MAO-B is an attractive target for the treatment of NDs. Despite significant efforts, few selective and reversible MAO-B inhibitors have been clinically approved. Natural products have emerged as valuable sources of lead compounds in drug discovery. Compounds such as chromone, coumarin, chalcone, caffeine, and aurone, present in natural structures, are considered as privileged scaffolds in the synthesis of MAO-B inhibitors. In this review, we summarized the structure-activity relationship (SAR) of MAO-B inhibitors based on the naturally privileged scaffolds over the past 20 years. Additionally, we proposed a balanced discussion on the advantages and limitations of natural scaffold-based MAO-B inhibitors with providing a future perspective in drug development.

Design, synthesis, anticancer and in silico assessment of 8-caffeinyl-triazolylmethoxy hybrid conjugates

In this research the synthesis, characterization, anticancer and the cytotoxicity assessments of novel 8-caffeinyl-triazolylmethoxy hybrid conjugates have been described. These compounds are the first caffeine-1,2,3-triazolyl hybrid molecules that structurally are composed of three compartments comprising caffeinyl, 1,2,3-triazolyl and N-alkyl/aryl residues. The in vitro evaluations of synthesized compounds on cancer cell lines, including two breast cancer cell lines MDA-MB-468 (ATCC HTB-22), MCF-7 (ATCC HTB-22), melanoma cell line A-375 (ATCC CRL-1619) and normal cell line HEK-293 (ATCC CRL-11268) have determined that 22c (IC₅₀ < 12.5 μM) demonstrated potent activity against A375 and its toxicity is even stronger than methotrexate (MTX) as a standard drug. Additionally, 22c involves more selectivity than MTX regarding its non-toxicity for the HEK-293 cell line. Among the tested compounds against two breast cancer cell lines, 22f (IC₅₀ = 136 ± 0.2 and 126 ± 0.6 μM for MCF-7 and MDA-MB-468, respectively) and 22i (IC₅₀ = 165 ± 1.8 and 175 ± 1.4 μM for MCF-7 and MDA-MB-468, respectively) were the most potent compounds but their activities were less than MTX, moreover 22f showed more selectivity regarding its lower toxicity against HEK-293. Overall, 22f displayed general toxicity and selectivity on all tested cancer cell lines. The in silico physicochemical properties, pharmacokinetic profile, and drug likeness predictions were also carried out for all the studied compounds. Most new compounds exhibited zero violation of Lipinski's rule (RO5). A molecular docking study was also conducted to predict the binding mode and the interaction of 22c as the most active anti-melanoma entry with B-RAF V600E kinase enzyme. The docking results determined that 22c exhibited a strong binding affinity to the active site of the enzyme. These findings demonstrated 22c and 22f as potential future anticancer drug candidates.

Monoamine oxidase inhibitors: A concise review with special emphasis on structure activity relationship studies

Monoamine oxidase enzyme is necessary for the management of brain functions. It oxidatively metabolizes monoamines and produces ammonia, aldehyde and hydrogen peroxide as by-products. Excessive production of by-products of monoamine metabolism generates free radicals which cause cellular apoptosis and several neurodegenerative disorders for example Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, depression and autism. The inhibition of MAOs is an attractive target for the treatment of neurological disorders. Clinically approved MAO inhibitors for example selegiline, rasagiline, clorgyline, pargyline etc. are irreversible in nature and cause some adverse effects while recently studied reversible MAO inhibitors are devoid of harmful effects of old monoamine oxidase inhibitors. In this review article we have listed various synthesized molecules containing different moieties like coumarin, chalcone, thiazole, thiourea, caffeine, pyrazole, chromone etc. along with their activity, mode of action, structure activity relationship and molecular docking studies.

Synthesis, characterization, in vitro cholinesterase and hRBCs hemolysis assay and computational evaluation of novel 2,3,4,5-tetrahydrobenzothiazepine appended α-aminophosphonates

A series of novel 2,3,4,5-tetrahydrobenzothiazepine appended α-aminophosphonate derivatives were synthesized by subjecting 2,3-dihydrobenzothiazepine to Pudovik reaction using diethyl phosphite. Tested derivatives exhibited better AChE inhibition (0.86-12.85 µM) when compared to BuChE (3.13-19.36 µM). Derivative 5f (IC₅₀ = 0.86 ± 0.08 µM), 5g (IC₅₀ = 1.05 ± 0.06 µM) and 5d (IC₅₀ = 1.64 ± 0.06 µM) exhibited higher AChE inhibitory activity as compared to standard drug galantamine (IC₅₀ = 2.15 ± 0.05 µM). Similarly, derivative 5e (IC₅₀ = 3.13 ± 0.11 µM) and 5f (IC₅₀ = 3.64 ± 0.06 µM) demonstrated comparable BuChE inhibitory activity to reference drug galantamine (IC₅₀ = 3.86 ± 0.03 µM). Further, enzyme kinetic studies were carried out for the most active molecule i.e. derivative 5f (for AChE) and derivative 5e (for BuChE) and the results imply that derivatives 5f and 5e show mixed-type inhibition with K_i values of 1.779 µM and 3.851 µM respectively. Enzyme reversibility inhibition studies demonstrated that all the tested derivatives possess reversible inhibitor characteristics. In addition, % hemolysis studies were carried out using human red blood cells (hRBCs) and the results demonstrated that the synthesized derivatives were biocompatible in nature as they impart very less cytotoxicity to hRBCs (CC₅₀ > 1000 μg/mL). Also, cell viability studies for tested derivatives revealed no cytotoxicity in N2a cells. Moreover, molecular docking studies revealed that derivative 5e and 5f bind to the PAS and CAS of the AChE. ADME predictions suggested that synthesized derivatives have high possibility of being drug-like.

8-Alkylmercaptocaffeine derivatives: antioxidant, molecular docking, and in-vitro cytotoxicity studies

Due to their unique pharmacological characteristics, methylxanthines are known as therapeutic agents in a fascinating range of medicinal scopes. In this report, we aimed to examine some biological effects of previously synthesized 8-alkylmercaptocaffeine derivatives. Cytotoxic and antioxidative activity of 8-alkylmercaptocaffeine derivatives were measured in malignant A549, MCF7, and C152 cell lines. Assessment of cGMP levels and caspase-3 activity were carried out using a colorimetric competitive ELISA kit. Computational approaches were employed to discover the inhibitory mechanism of synthesized compounds. Among the twelve synthesized derivatives, three compounds (C1, C5, and C7) bearing propyl, heptyl, and 3-methyl-butyl moieties showed higher and more desirable cytotoxic activity against all the studied cell lines (IC₅₀ < 100 µM). Furthermore, C5 synergistically enhanced cisplatin-induced cytotoxicity in MCF-7 cells (CI < 1). Both C5 and C7 significantly increased caspase-3 activity and intracellular cGMP levels at specific time intervals in all studied cell lines (P < 0.05). However, these derivatives did not elevate LDH leakage (P > 0.05) and exhibited no marked ameliorating effects on oxidative damage (P > 0.05). Computational studies showed that H-bond formation between the nitrogen atom in pyrazolo[4,3-D] pyrimidine moiety with Gln817 and creating a hydrophobic cavity result in the stability of the alkyl group in the PDE5A active site. We found that synthesized 8-alkylmercaptocaffeine derivatives induced cell death in different cancer cells through the cGMP pathway. These findings will help us to get a deeper insight into the role of methylxanthines as useful alternatives to conventional cancer therapeutics.

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of new benzoxazolone/benzothiazolone derivatives as multi-target agents against Alzheimer's disease

In this study, four series of compounds with benzoxazolone and benzothiazolone cores were designed, synthesized and evaluated as multifunctional agents against Alzheimer's disease (AD). Additionally, in order to shed light on the effect of the carbonyl groups of benzoxazolone/benzothiazolone, benzoxazole/benzothiazole-containing analogues were also synthesized and evaluated. Inhibition potency of all final compounds towards cholinesterase enzymes and their antioxidant activity were tested. Subsequently, the anti-inflammatory activity, cytotoxicity, apoptosis, and Aβ aggregation inhibition tests were also performed for selected compounds. The results indicated that compounds 11c, a pentanamide derivative with benzothiazolone core, and 14b, a keton derivative with benzothiazolone core, were considered as promising multi-functional agents for further investigation against AD. The reversibility, kinetic and molecular docking studies were also performed for the compounds with the highest AChE 14b (eeAChE IC₅₀ = 0.34 μM, huAChE IC₅₀ = 0.46 μM) and BChE 11c (eqBChE IC₅₀ = 2.98 μM, huBChE IC₅₀ = 2.56 μM) inhibitory activities.

Identification of 7,8-dihydroxy-3-phenylcoumarin as a reversible monoamine oxidase enzyme inhibitor

We herein report the biological evaluation of 3-arylcoumarin derivatives (3a-l) as potential human monoamine oxidase-A and -B (hMAO-A and hMAO-B) inhibitors. The result indicated that 7,8-dihydroxy-3-(4-nitrophenyl)coumarin (3j) was most effective against MAO-A (inhibition concentration [IC₅₀ ] = 6.46 ± 0.02 µM) and MAO-B (IC₅₀  = 3.8 ± 0.3 µM) enzymes than other synthesized compounds and reference compounds (pargyline and moclobemide). Furthermore, compound (3j) showed (a) nonselectivity against hMAO enzymes, (b) reversible hMAO enzymes inhibition, and (c) neuroprotection against H₂ O₂ -treated human neuroblastoma (N2a) cells. Finally, a molecular modeling study revealed that the hMAO enzymes inhibitory activity of the compound (3j) may be due to the orientation where the nitro (NO₂ ) group lies deep into the receptor and the phenyl ring directed toward flavin adenosine dinucleotide via hydrogen bond interaction, and possible π-π interaction with various important residues. Thus, the results of the present study demonstrate that compound (3j) can be considered as a promising scaffold for the development of hMAO-A and hMAO-B inhibitors.

Xanthine Derivatives as Agents Affecting Non-dopaminergic Neuroprotection in Parkinson`s Disease

Parkinson's Disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative and debilitating disease that affects 1% of the elderly population. Patient's motor disability results in extreme difficulty to deal with daily activities. Conventional treatment is limited to dopamine replacement therapy, which fails to delay disease's progression and is often associated with a number of adverse reactions. Recent progress in understanding the mechanisms involved in PD has revealed new molecular targets for therapeutic approaches. Among them, caffeine and xanthine derivatives are promising drug candidates, because of the possible symptomatic benefits in PD. In fact, consumption of coffee correlates with a reduced risk of PD. Over the last decades, a lot of efforts have been made to uncover the therapeutic potential of xanthine structures. The substituted xanthine molecule is used as a scaffold for the synthesis of new compounds with protective effects in neurodegenerative diseases, including PD, asthma, cancer and others. The administration of the xanthines has been proposed as a non-dopaminergic strategy for neuroprotection in PD and the mechanisms of protection have been associated with antagonism of adenosine A2A receptors and Monoamine Oxidase type B (MAO-B) inhibition. The current review summarizes frequently suspected non-dopaminergic neuroprotective mechanisms and the possible beneficial effects of the xanthine derivatives in PD, along with some synthetic approaches to produce perspective xanthine derivatives as non-dopaminergic agents in PD treatment.

Dipropargyl substituted diphenylpyrimidines as dual inhibitors of monoamine oxidase and acetylcholinesterase

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a multifactorial neurological disorder involving complex pathogenesis. Single target directed drugs proved ineffective and since last few years' different pharmacological strategies including multi-targeting agents are being explored for the effective drug development for AD. A total of 19 dipropargyl substituted diphenylpyrimidines have been synthesized and evaluated for the monoamine oxidase (MAO) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibition potential. All the compounds were found to be selective and reversible inhibitors of MAO-B isoform. These compounds also displayed good AChE inhibition potential with IC₅₀ values in low micromolar range. AVB4 was found to be the most potent MAO-B inhibitor with IC₅₀ value of 1.49 ± 0.09 μM and AVB1 was found to be the most potent AChE inhibitor with IC₅₀ value of 1.35 ± 0.03 μM. In the ROS protection inhibition studies, AVB1 and AVB4 displayed weak but interesting activity in SH-SY5Y cells. In the cytotoxicity studies involving SH-SY5Y cells, both AVB1 and AVB4 were found to be non-toxic to the tissue cells. In the molecular dynamic simulation studies of 30 ns, the potent compounds were found to be quite stable in the active site of MAO-B and AChE. The results suggested that AVB1 and AVB4 are promising dual inhibitors and have the potential to be developed as anti-Alzheimer's drug.

4,6-Diphenylpyrimidine Derivatives as Dual Inhibitors of Monoamine Oxidase and Acetylcholinesterase for the Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder with multifactorial pathogenesis. Monoamine oxidase (MAO) and acetylcholinesterase enzymes (AChE) are potential targets for the treatment of AD. A total of 15 new propargyl containing 4,6-diphenylpyrimidine derivatives were synthesized and screened for the MAO and AChE inhibition activities along with ROS production inhibition and metal-chelation potential. All the synthesized compounds were found to be selective and potent inhibitors of MAO-A and AChE enzymes at nanomolar concentrations. VB1 was found to be the most potent MAO-A and BuChE inhibitor with IC₅₀ values of 18.34 ± 0.38 nM and 0.666 ± 0.03 μM, respectively. It also showed potent AChE inhibition with an IC₅₀ value of 30.46 ± 0.23 nM. Compound VB8 was found to be the most potent AChE inhibitor with an IC₅₀ value of 9.54 ± 0.07 nM and displayed an IC₅₀ value of 1010 ± 70.42 nM against the MAO-A isoform. In the cytotoxic studies, these compounds were found to be nontoxic to the human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells even at 25 μM concentration. All the compounds were found to be reversible inhibitors of MAO-A and AChE enzymes. In addition, these compounds also showed good neuroprotective properties against 6-OHDA- and H₂O₂-induced neurotoxicity in SH-SY5Y cells. All the compounds accommodate nicely to the hydrophobic cavity of MAO-A and AChE enzymes. In the molecular dynamics simulation studies, both VB1 and VB8 were found to be stable in the respective cavities for 30 ns. Thus, 4,6-diphenylpyrimidine derivatives can act as promising leads in the development of dual-acting inhibitors targeting MAO-A and AChE enzymes for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

Privileged scaffolds as MAO inhibitors: Retrospect and prospects

This review aims to be a comprehensive, authoritative, critical, and readable review of general interest to the medicinal chemistry community because it focuses on the pharmacological, chemical, structural and computational aspects of diverse chemical categories as monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs). Monoamine oxidases (MAOs), namely MAO-A and MAO-B represent an enormously valuable class of neuronal enzymes embodying neurobiological origin and functions, serving as potential therapeutic target in neuronal pharmacotherapy, and hence we have coined the term "Neurozymes" which is being introduced for the first time ever. Nowadays, therapeutic attention on MAOIs engrosses two imperative categories; MAO-A inhibitors, in certain mental disorders such as depression and anxiety, and MAO-B inhibitors, in neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD). The use of MAOIs declined due to some potential side effects, food and drug interactions, and introduction of other classes of drugs. However, curiosity in MAOIs is reviving and the recent developments of new generation of highly selective and reversible MAOIs, have renewed the therapeutic prospective of these compounds. The initial section of the review emphasizes on the detailed classification, structural and binding characteristics, therapeutic potential, current status and future challenges of the privileged pharmacophores. However, the chemical prospective of privileged scaffolds such as; aliphatic and aromatic amines, amides, hydrazines, azoles, diazoles, tetrazoles, indoles, azines, diazines, xanthenes, tricyclics, benzopyrones, and more interestingly natural products, along with their conclusive SARs have been discussed in the later segment of review. The last segment of the article encompasses some patents granted in the field of MAOIs, in a simplistic way.

Solid-Phase Synthesis of 1,3,7,8-Tetrasubstituted Xanthine Derivatives on Traceless Solid Support

Traceless solid-phase synthesis of 1,3,7,8-tetrasubstituted xanthine (1,3,7,8-tetrasubstituted 1H-purine-2,6(3H,7H)-dione) derivatives has been developed. The solid-phase synthetic route began on a solid supported N'-cyano-N-substituted carbamimidothioate, which was prepared from cyanamide, isothiocyanate, and Merrifield resin. After N-alkylation of carbamimidothioate resin with ethyl 2-bromoacetate, an imidazole ring is introduced by Thorpe-Ziegler-type cyclization. The resulting imidazole resin is converted to 1,3,7-trisubstituted xanthine resin using sequential reactions, such as Lewis acid-catalyzed urea formation, pyrimidine ring cyclization, and N-alkylation. After oxidation of sulfides to sulfones, traceless cleavage with amine or thiol nucleophiles afforded the desired 1,3,7,8-tetrasubstituted xanthines in good purities and overall yields (eight-steps; 36 examples). This efficient solid-phase synthesis enables the incorporation of four diversity points into the preparation of the 1,3,7,8-tetrasubstituted xanthines.

Two-step three-component process for one-pot synthesis of 8-alkylmercaptocaffeine derivatives

A two-step three-component process for one-pot synthesis of some 8-alkylmercaptocaffeine derivatives has been described using alkyl bromides, thiourea, and 8-bromocaffeine.

New Frontiers in Selective Human MAO-B Inhibitors

Accumulating evidence shows a relationship between the human MAO-B (hMAO-B) enzyme and neuropsychiatric/degenerative disorder, personality traits, type II alcoholism, borderline personality disorders, aggressiveness and violence in crime, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, suicide, schizophrenia, anorexia nervosa, migraine, dementia, and PD. Thus, MAO-B represents an attractive target for the treatment of a number of human diseases. The discovery, development, and therapeutic use of drugs that inhibit MAO-B are major challenges for future therapy. Various compounds and drugs that selectively target this isoform have been discovered recently. These agents are synthetic compounds or natural products and their analogues, including chalcones, pyrazoles, chromones, coumarins, xanthines, isatin derivatives, thiazolidindiones, (thiazol-2-yl)hydrazones, and analogues of marketed drugs. Despite considerable efforts in understanding the binding interaction with specific substrates or inhibitors, structural information available for the rational design of new hMAO-B inhibitors remains unsatisfactory. Therefore, the quest for novel, potent, and selective hMAO-B inhibitors remains of high interest.

An efficient synthesis of new caffeine-based chalcones, pyrazolines and pyrazolo[3,4-b][1,4]diazepines as potential antimalarial, antitrypanosomal and antileishmanial agents

A new series of chalcones 5a-f were synthesized from caffeine-based aldehyde 3 and substituted acetophenones 4a-f. Treatment of compounds 5a-f with hydrazine hydrate led to pyrazolines 6a-f, and their subsequent reaction with acetic anhydride or formic acid afforded the corresponding N-substituted pyrazolines 7a-f and 8a-f respectively. Additionally, the regioselective cyclocondensation reaction of chalcones 5a-f with 4,5-diaminopyrazole 9 afforded the diazepine derivatives 10a-f. Synthesis of the above novel compounds was carried out through a simple procedure involving an easy work-up and mild reaction conditions. In vitro antimalarial activity against Plasmodium falciparum was evaluated for the obtained compounds. Among of them, just pirazoline 6a showed an outstanding growth inhibition percentage 85.2 ± 5.4%, while diazepines 10a-f showed remarkable growth inhibitions in the range of 80.3 ± 13.5 to 94.2 ± 0.2% when were tested at 20 μg/mL. Compounds 5b, 5e, 7c and 7f showed remarkable activities against Leishmania panamensis with growth inhibition of 88.3 ± 1.5, 82.6 ± 2.2, 82.8 ± 1.7 and 87.6 ± 0.5% respectively, at 20 μg/mL. In vitro assays against Trypanozoma cruzi showed that pyrazoline 6d displayed a growth inhibition of 61.9 ± 7.8% at 20 μg/mL while chalcone 5f was considered especially active with a growth inhibition of 9.7 ± 1.5% for a very low concentration of 1.0 μg/mL.

Inhibition effects of Vernonia cinerea active compounds against cytochrome P450 2A6 and human monoamine oxidases, possible targets for reduction of tobacco dependence

The human cytochrome P450 2A6 (CYP2A6) and monoamine oxidases (MAO-A and MAO-B), catalyzing nicotine and dopamine metabolisms, respectively, are two therapeutic targets of nicotine dependence. Vernonia cinerea, a medicinal plant commonly used for treatment of diseases such as asthma and bronchitis, has been shown reducing tobacco dependence effect among tobacco users. In the present study, we found eight active compounds isolated from V. cinerea that comprise inhibitory activity toward CYP2A6 and MAO-A and MAO-B enzymes using activity-guided assays, with coumarin as substrate of CYP2A6 and kynuramine of MAOs. These compounds were three flavones (apigenin, chrysoeriol, luteolin), one flavonol (quercetin), and four hirsutinolide-type sesquiterpene lactones (8α-(2-methylacryloyloxy)-hirsutinolide-13-O-acetate, 8α-(4-hydroxymethacryloyloxy)-hirsutinolide-13-O-acetate, 8α-tigloyloxyhirsutinolide-13-O-acetate, and 8α-(4-hydroxytigloyloxy)-hirsutinolide-13-O-acetate). Modes and kinetics of inhibition against the three enzymes were determined. Flavonoids possessed strong inhibitory effect on CYP2A6 in reversible mode, while inhibition by hirsutinolides was mechanism-based (NADPH-, concentration-, and time-dependence) and irreversible. Inhibition by hirsutinolides could not be reversed by dialysis and by addition of trapping agents or potassium ferricyanide. Flavonoids inhibited MAOs with variable degrees and were more prominent in inhibition toward MAO-A than hirsutinolides, while two of hirsutinolides inhibited MAO-B approximately comparable to two flavonoids. These results could have implications in combination of drug therapy for smoking cessation.

Inhibition of monoamine oxidase by selected phenylalkylcaffeine analogues

Objectives

Caffeine represents a useful scaffold for the design of monoamine oxidase (MAO) type B inhibitors. Specifically, substitution on the C8 position yields structures which are high-potency MAO-B inhibitors. To explore the structure–activity relationships of MAO-B inhibition by caffeine-derived compounds, this study examines the MAO inhibitory properties of a series of phenylalkylcaffeine analogues.

Methods

Employing the recombinant human enzymes, the potencies (IC50 values) by which the caffeine analogues inhibit MAO-A and MAO-B were measured. The reversibility of inhibition of a selected inhibitor was determined by measuring the recovery of enzyme activity after dilution and dialysis of enzyme-inhibitor mixtures.

Key findings

The results document that the phenylalkylcaffeine analogues are reversible and selective MAO-B inhibitors with a competitive mode of inhibition. The most potent analogue, 8-(7-phenylheptyl)caffeine, exhibits IC50 values for the inhibition of MAO-A and MAO-B of 3.01 μm and 0.086 μm, respectively. Increasing the length of the alkyl side chain leads to enhanced MAO-A and MAO-B inhibitory potency while introduction of a carbonyl group reduces MAO-B inhibitory potency.

Conclusions

Phenylalkylcaffeines represent a new class of high-potency MAO-B inhibitors with the longer alkyl side chains yielding enhanced inhibitory activity. Such compounds may represent useful leads for the development of anti-parkinsonian therapies.