Novel anti-inflammatory agents featuring phenoxy acetic acid moiety as a pharmacophore for selective COX-2 inhibitors: Synthesis, biological evaluation, histopathological examination and molecular modeling investigation

Inflammation management presents a critical challenge in modern medicine, with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) being a widely used therapeutic option. However, their efficacy is often accompanied by significant gastrointestinal adverse effects, necessitating the exploration of safer alternatives, particularly through the investigation of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors. This study endeavors to address this imperative through the synthesis and evaluation of pyrazoline-phenoxyacetic acid derivatives. Among the synthesized compounds, 6a and 6c emerged as promising candidates, demonstrating potent COX-2 inhibition with IC50 values of 0.03 µM for both and selectivity index = 365.4 and 196.9, respectively. Furthermore, these compounds exhibited efficacy in mitigating formalin-induced edema in male Wistar rats, accompanied by favorable safety profiles upon histological examination of vital organs. Comprehensive safety assessments, including evaluation of creatinine, AST, and ALT enzymatic as well as troponin T and creatine kinase-MB levels, further reinforce the promising attributes of the synthetic candidates. Molecular docking studies endorsed by molecular dynamic simulations corroborate the biological findings, elucidating significant protein-ligand interactions at COX-2 active sites indicative of therapeutic potential.

Fragment merging approach for the design of thiazole/thiazolidine clubbed pyrazoline derivatives as anti-inflammatory agents: Synthesis, biopharmacological evaluation and molecular modeling studies

Fragment merging approach was applied for the design of thiazole/thiazolidinone clubbed pyrazoline derivatives 5a-e, 6a-c, 7 and 10a-d as dual COX-2 and 5-LOX inhibitors. Compounds 5a, 6a, and 6b were the most potent and COX-2 selective inhibitors (IC50= 0.03-0.06 μM, SI = 282.7-472.9) with high activity against 5-LOX (IC50 = 4.36-4.86 μM), while compounds 5b and 10a were active and selective 5-LOX inhibitors with IC50 = 2.43 and 1.58 μM, respectively. In vivo assay and histopathological examination for most active candidate 6a revealed significant decrease in inflammation with higher safety profile in comparison to standard drugs. Compound 6a exhibited the same orientation and binding interactions as the reference COX-2 and 5-LOX inhibitors (celecoxib and quercetin, respectively). Consequently, compound 6a has been identified as a potential lead for further optimization and the development of safe and effective anti-inflammatory drugs.

Morpholine as ubiquitous pharmacophore in medicinal chemistry: Deep insight into the structure-activity relationship (SAR)

Morpholine is a versatile moiety, a privileged pharmacophore and an outstanding heterocyclic motif with wide ranges of pharmacological activities due to different mechanisms of action. The ability of morpholine to enhance the potency of the molecule through molecular interactions with the target protein (kinases) or to modulate the pharmacokinetic properties propelled medicinal chemists and researchers to synthesize morpholine ring by the efficient ways and to incorporate this moiety to develop various lead compounds with diverse therapeutic activities. The present review primarily focused on discussing the most promising synthetic leads containing morpholine ring along with structure-activity relationship (SAR) to reveal the active pharmacophores accountable for anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, anticonvulsant, antihyperlipidemic, antioxidant, antimicrobial and antileishmanial activity. This review outlines some of the recent effective chemical synthesis for morpholine ring. The review also highlighted the metabolic liability of some clinical drugs containing this nucleus and various researches on modified morpholine to enhance the metabolic stability of drugs as well. Drugs bearing morpholine ring and those under clinical trials are also mentioned with the role of morpholine and their mechanism of action. This review will provide the necessary knowledge base to the medicinal chemists in making strategic structural changes in designing morpholine derivatives.

Medicinal chemistry of indole derivatives: Current to future therapeutic prospectives

Indole is a versatile pharmacophore, a privileged scaffold and an outstanding heterocyclic compound with wide ranges of pharmacological activities due to different mechanisms of action. It is an superlative moiety in drug discovery with the sole property of resembling different structures of the protein. Plenty of research has been taking place in recent years to synthesize and explore the various therapeutic prospectives of this moiety. This review summarizes some of the recent effective chemical synthesis (2014-2018) for indole ring. This review also emphasized on the structure-activity relationship (SAR) to reveal the active pharmacophores of various indole analogues accountable for anticancer, anticonvulsant, antimicrobial, antitubercular, antimalarial, antiviral, antidiabetic and other miscellaneous activities which have been investigated in the last five years. The precise features with motives and framework of each research topic is introduced for helping the medicinal chemists to understand the perspective of the context in a better way. This review will definitely offer the platform for researchers to strategically design diverse novel indole derivatives having different promising pharmacological activities with reduced toxicity and side effects.