Synthesis and antimycobacterial activity of new S-alkylisothiosemicarbazone derivatives

Evaluation of azothioformamides and their copper(I) and silver(I) complexes for biological activity

Redox-active azothioformamides (ATFs) contain an NNCS 1,3-heterodiene motif typically found in other molecular subclasses that exhibit a wide range of cytotoxic and anti-neoplastic effects, either alone or as chelation complexes with various metals. For this study, a small library of ATF compounds was synthesized and tested across a range of microbes, fungi, and cancer cell lines for biological activity, both alone and as metal chelates of copper(I) and silver(I) salts. Alone, the ATF compounds exhibited little antimicrobial activity, but all inhibited the cell growth of A549 lung carcinoma cells (IC50 values of 1-6 μM). As copper(I) and silver(I) coordination complexes, several of the ATFs showed antimicrobial activity against gram positive Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis cells (IC50 ∼ 5-20 μM) and the fungi Candida albicans (IC50 ∼ 8-12 μM); as well as cytotoxicity against both lung carcinoma A549 cells and lymphoblastic leukemia K562 cells.

Current development of 5-nitrofuran-2-yl derivatives as antitubercular agents

Pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) and still remains one of the foremost fatal infectious diseases, infecting nearly a third of the worldwide population. The emergencies of multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR and XDR-TB) prompt the efforts to deliver potent and novel anti-TB drugs. Research aimed at the development of new anti-TB drugs based on nitrofuran scaffold led to the identification of several candidates that were effective against actively growing as well as latent mycobacteria with unique modes of action. This review focuses on the recent advances in nitrofurans that could provide intriguing potential leads in the area of anti-TB drug discovery.

Pharmacological and structure-activity relationship evaluation of 4-aryl-1-diphenylacetyl(thio)semicarbazides

This article describes the synthesis of six 4-aryl-(thio)semicarbazides (series a and b) linked with diphenylacetyl moiety along with their pharmacological evaluation on the central nervous system in mice and computational studies, including conformational analysis and electrostatic properties. All thiosemicarbazides (series b) were found to exhibit strong antinociceptive activity in the behavioural model. Among them, compound 1-diphenylacetyl-4-(4-methylphenyl)thiosemicarbazide 1b was found to be the most potent analgesic agent, whose activity is connected with the opioid system. For compounds from series a significant anti-serotonergic effect, especially for compound 1-diphenylacetyl-4-(4-methoxyphenyl)semicarbazide 2b was observed. The computational studies strongly support the obtained results.

An Efficient One Pot Synthesis and Antimicrobial Activity of Novel S-Alkylisothiosemicarbazone and Imidazolidinone Derivatives of Pyrazole Carbaldehyde

S-Alkylisothiosemicarbazone and imidazolidinone derivatives were synthesised from pyrazole 4-carbaldehyde in a one pot reaction. The synthesised compounds were characterized by IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, mass and elemental analysis. Most of the synthesised compounds showed antimicrobial activity against S. Aureus, B. subtilis, E. coli, P. aeruginos, A. Niger and C. albicans.

Cytotoxic activities of new iron(III) and nickel(II) chelates of some S-methyl-thiosemicarbazones on K562 and ECV304 cells

The S-methyl-thiosemicarbazones of the 2-hydroxy-R-benzaldehyde (R = H, 3-OH 3-OCH(3) or 4-OCH(3)) reacted with the corresponding aldehydes in the presence of FeCl(3) and NiCl(2). New ONNO chelates of iron(III) and nickel(II) with hydroxy- or methoxy-substituted N(1),N(4)-diarylidene-S-methyl-thiosemicarbazones were characterized by means of elemental analysis, conductivity and magnetic measurements, UV-Vis, IR and (1)H-NMR spectroscopies. Cytotoxic activities of the compounds were determined using K562 chronic myeloid leukemia and ECV304 human endothelial cell lines by MTT assay. It was determined that monochloro N(1)-4-methoxysalicylidene-N(4)-4-methoxysalicylidene-S-methyl-thiosemicarbazidato-iron(III) complex showed selective anti-leukemic effects in K562 cells while has no effect in ECV304 cells in the 0.53 microg/ml (IC(50)) concentrations. Also, some methoxy-substituted nickel(II) chelates exhibit high cytotoxic activity against both of these cell lines in low concentrations. Cytotoxicity data were evaluated depending on cell lines origin and position of the substituents on aromatic rings.

Antimicrobial activity of a series of thiosemicarbazones and their ZnII and PdII complexes

Thirty-four thiosemicarbazones and S-alkyl thiosemicarbazones, and some of their Zn(II) and Pd(II) complexes were obtained and purified to investigate antimicrobial activity. MIC values of the compounds were determined by the disc diffusion method against Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus mirabilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi, Shigella flexneri, Staphylococcus aureus, S. epidermidis, and Candida albicans. The thiosemicarbazones show antibacterial and antifungal effects in free ligand and metal-complex form. Picolinaldehyde-S-methyl- and -S-benzylthiosemicarbazones did not affect the tested microorganisms but their Zn(II) complexes showed selective activity. The antimicrobial activity is relatively high in Me2SO, but the antimicrobial potential is changed in a certain range with Me2SO, HCONMe2, EtOH and CHCl3.

In vitro antimycobacterial activity of newly synthesised S-alkylisothiosemicarbazone derivatives and synergistic interactions in combination with rifamycins against Mycobacterium avium

The antimycobacterial activities of two new S-alkylisothiosemicarbazone derivatives (1i and 1f) against 32 Mycobacterium avium isolates were investigated. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were significantly lower than those of rifampicin and other reference drugs. The two derivatives also showed excellent intracellular activity against M. avium residing in the macrophage-like J774 cells. Interestingly, the combination of subinhibitory concentrations of 1i and rifabutin or rifampicin induced a potent synergistic effect, as determined by the fractional inhibitory concentration indexes (FICIs) ranging between 0.103 and 0.412. Such synergistic effect resulted in a 81-fold and 139-fold reduction of the MICs of rifabutin and rifampicin, respectively. Enhancement of intracellular activity of rifabutin by the S-alkylisothiosemicarbazone derivative 1i was also observed. Results indicate that S-alkylisothiosemicarbazones can be useful in the therapy and prophylaxis of M. avium infections and can represent a template for the development of novel antimycobacterial drugs. Furthermore, as a consequence of their ability to enhance the activity of rifamycins, a reduction of drug interactions following the co-administration of protease inhibitors could be achieved by lower doses of rifampicin and rifabutin.

Fighting tuberculosis: An old disease with new challenges

Tuberculosis (TB) caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis remains a leading cause of mortality worldwide into 21st century. The mortality and spread of this disease has further been aggravated because of synergy of this disease with HIV. A number of anti-TB drugs are ineffective against this disease because of development of resistance strains. Internationally efforts are being made to develop new anti-tubercular agents. A number of drug targets from cell wall biosynthesis, nucleic acid biosynthesis, and many other biosynthetic pathways are being unraveled throughout the world and are being utilized for drug development. In this review, socioeconomic problems in developing countries, efforts to control this disease in different individuals, the targets (known already and newly discovered), existing anti-tubercular agents including natural products and lead molecules, and the future prospects to develop new anti-TB agents are described.

Metal complexes with Schiff-base ligands - pyridoxal and semicarbazide-based derivatives

The most important results of extensive studies (syntheses, spectral, magnetic, voltammetric and structural characteristics and biological activity) of metal complexes with pyridoxal semi-, thiosemi- and isothiosemicarbazones are reviewed.