Synthesis and Characterization of New N-acyl Hydrazone Derivatives of Carprofen as Potential Tuberculostatic Agents

N-acyl hydrazone (NAH) is recognized as a promising framework in drug design due to its versatility, straightforward synthesis, and attractive range of biological activities, including antimicrobial, antitumoral, analgesic, and anti-inflammatory properties. In the global context of increasing resistance of pathogenic bacteria to antibiotics, NAHs represent potential solutions for developing improved treatment alternatives. Therefore, this research introduces six novel derivatives of (EZ)-N'-benzylidene-2-(6-chloro-9H-carbazol-2-yl)propanehydrazide, synthesized using a microwave-assisted method. In more detail, we joined two pharmacophore fragments in a single molecule, represented by an NSAID-type carprofen structure and a hydrazone-type structure, obtaining a new series of NSAID-N-acyl hydrazone derivatives that were further characterized spectrally using FT-IR, NMR, and HRMS investigations. Additionally, the substances were assessed for their tuberculostatic activity by examining their impact on four strains of M. tuberculosis, including two susceptible to rifampicin (RIF) and isoniazid (INH), one susceptible to RIF and resistant to INH, and one resistant to both RIF and INH. The results of our research highlight the potential of the prepared compounds in fighting against antibiotic-resistant M. tuberculosis strains.

Contribution to the Synthesis, Characterization, Separation and Quantification of New N-Acyl Thiourea Derivatives with Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Potential

The present study aimed to synthesize, characterize, and validate a separation and quantification method of new N-acyl thiourea derivatives (1a-1o), incorporating thiazole or pyridine nucleus in the same molecule and showing antimicrobial potential previously predicted in silico. The compounds have been physiochemically characterized by their melting points, IR, NMR and MS spectra. Among the tested compounds, 1a, 1g, 1h, and 1o were the most active against planktonic Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, as revealed by the minimal inhibitory concentration values, while 1e exhibited the best anti-biofilm activity against Escherichia coli (showing the lowest value of minimal inhibitory concentration of biofilm development). The total antioxidant activity (TAC) assessed by the DPPH method, evidenced the highest values for the compound 1i, followed by 1a. A routine quality control method for the separation of highly related compounds bearing a chlorine atom on the molecular backbone (1g, 1h, 1i, 1j, 1m, 1n) has been developed and validated by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC), the results being satisfactory for all validation parameters recommended by the ICH guidelines (i.e., system suitability, specificity, the limits of detection and quantification, linearity, precision, accuracy and robustness) and recommending it for routine separation of these highly similar compounds.

Repurposing anti-inflammatory drugs for fighting planktonic and biofilm growth. New carbazole derivatives based on the NSAID carprofen: synthesis, in silico and in vitro bioevaluation

Introduction

One of the promising leads for the rapid discovery of alternative antimicrobial agents is to repurpose other drugs, such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents (NSAIDs) for fighting bacterial infections and antimicrobial resistance.

Methods

A series of new carbazole derivatives based on the readily available anti-inflammatory drug carprofen has been obtained by nitration, halogenation and N-alkylation of carprofen and its esters. The structures of these carbazole compounds were assigned by NMR and IR spectroscopy. Regioselective electrophilic substitution by nitration and halogenation at the carbazole ring was assigned from H NMR spectra. The single crystal X-ray structures of two representative derivatives obtained by dibromination of carprofen, were also determined. The total antioxidant capacity (TAC) was measured using the DPPH method. The antimicrobial activity assay was performed using quantitative methods, allowing establishment of the minimal inhibitory/bactericidal/biofilm eradication concentrations (MIC/MBC/MBEC) on Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) strains. Computational assays have been performed to assess the drug- and lead-likeness, pharmacokinetics (ADME-Tox) and pharmacogenomics profiles.

Results and discussion

The crystal X-ray structures of 3,8-dibromocarprofen and its methyl ester have revealed significant differences in their supramolecular assemblies. The most active antioxidant compound was 1i, bearing one chlorine and two bromine atoms, as well as the CO2Me group. Among the tested derivatives, 1h bearing one chlorine and two bromine atoms has exhibited the widest antibacterial spectrum and the most intensive inhibitory activity, especially against the Gram-positive strains, in planktonic and biofilm growth state. The compounds 1a (bearing one chlorine, one NO2 and one CO2Me group) and 1i (bearing one chlorine, two bromine atoms and a CO2Me group) exhibited the best antibiofilm activity in the case of the P. aeruginosa strain. Moreover, these compounds comply with the drug-likeness rules, have good oral bioavailability and are not carcinogenic or mutagenic. The results demonstrate that these new carbazole derivatives have a molecular profile which deserves to be explored further for the development of novel antibacterial and antibiofilm agents.

New N-acyl Thiourea Derivatives: Synthesis, Standardized Quantification Method and In Vitro Evaluation of Potential Biological Activities

New N-acyl thiourea derivatives with heterocyclic rings have been synthesized by first obtaining isothiocyanate, which further reacted with a heterocyclic amine, characterized by (FT-IR, NMR spectroscopy and FT-ICR) and tested for their in vitro antimicrobial, anti-biofilm and antioxidant activities to obtain a drug candidate in a lead-optimization process. From the tested compounds, those bearing benzothiazole (1b) and 6-methylpyridine (1d) moieties revealed anti-biofilm activity against E. coli ATCC 25922 at MBIC values of 625 µg/mL. Compound 1d exhibited the highest antioxidant capacity (~43%) in the in vitro assay using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH). Considering the in vitro results, the highest anti-biofilm and antioxidant activities were obtained for compound 1d. Therefore, a reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) method has been optimized and validated for the quantitative determination of compound 1d. The detection and quantitation limits were 0.0174 μg/mL and 0.0521 μg/mL, respectively. The R² correlation coefficient of the LOQ and linearity curves were greater than 0.99, over the concentration range of 0.05 μg/mL-40 μg/mL. The precision and accuracy of the analytical method were within 98-102%, confirming that the method is suitable for the quantitative determination of compound 1d in routine quality control analyses. Evaluating the results, the promising potential of the new N-acyl thiourea derivatives bearing 6-methylpyridine moiety will be further investigated for developing agents with anti-biofilm and antioxidant activities.

Insights into the Microbicidal, Antibiofilm, Antioxidant and Toxicity Profile of New O-Aryl-Carbamoyl-Oxymino-Fluorene Derivatives

The unprecedented increase in microbial resistance rates to all current drugs raises an acute need for the design of more effective antimicrobial strategies. Moreover, the importance of oxidative stress due to chronic inflammation in infections with resistant bacteria represents a key factor for the development of new antibacterial agents with potential antioxidant effects. Thus, the purpose of this study was to bioevaluate new O-aryl-carbamoyl-oxymino-fluorene derivatives for their potential use against infectious diseases. With this aim, their antimicrobial effect was evaluated using quantitative assays (minimum inhibitory/bactericidal/biofilms inhibitory concentrations) (MIC/MBC/MBIC), the obtained values being 0.156-10/0.312-10/0.009-1.25 mg/mL), while some of the involved mechanisms (i.e., membrane depolarization) were investigated by flow cytometry. The antioxidant activity was evaluated by studying the scavenger capacity of DPPH and ABTS•+ radicals and the toxicity was tested in vitro on three cell lines and in vivo on the crustacean Artemia franciscana Kellog. The four compounds derived from 9H-fluoren-9-one oxime proved to exhibit promising antimicrobial features and particularly, a significant antibiofilm activity. The presence of chlorine induced an electron-withdrawing effect, favoring the anti-Staphylococcus aureus and that of the methyl group exhibited a +I effect of enhancing the anti-Candida albicans activity. The IC50 values calculated in the two toxicity assays revealed similar values and the potential of these compounds to inhibit the proliferation of tumoral cells. Taken together, all these data demonstrate the potential of the tested compounds to be further used for the development of novel antimicrobial and anticancer agents.

Synthesis, Characterization, and Biologic Activity of New Acyl Hydrazides and 1,3,4-Oxadiazole Derivatives

Starting from isoniazid and carboxylic acids as precursors, thirteen new hydrazides and 1,3,4-oxadiazoles of 2-(4-substituted-phenoxymethyl)-benzoic acids were synthesized and characterized by appropriate means. Their biological properties were evaluated in terms of apoptosis, cell cycle blocking, and drug metabolism gene expression on HCT-8 and HT-29 cell lines. In vitro antimicrobial tests were performed by the microplate Alamar Blue assay for the anti-mycobacterial activities and an adapted agar disk diffusion technique for other non-tubercular bacterial strains. The best antibacterial activity (anti-Mycobacterium tuberculosis effects) was proved by 9. Compounds 7, 8, and 9 determined blocking of G1 phase. Compound 7 proved to be toxic, inducing apoptosis in 54% of cells after 72 h, an effect that can be predicted by the increased expression of mRNA caspases 3 and 7 after 24 h. The influence of compounds on gene expression of enzymes implicated in drug metabolism indicates that synthesized compounds could be metabolized via other pathways than NAT2, spanning adverse effects of isoniazid. Compound 9 had the best antibacterial activity, being used as a disinfectant agent. Compounds 7, 8, and 9, seemed to have antitumor potential. Further studies on the action mechanism of these compounds on the cell cycle may bring new information regarding their biological activity.

Antimicrobial Features of Organic Functionalized Graphene-Oxide with Selected Amines

(1) Background: Graphene oxide is a new carbon-based material that contains functional groups (carboxyl, hydroxyl, carbonyl, epoxy) and therefore can be easily functionalized with organic compounds of interest, yielding hybrid materials with important properties and applications. (2) Methods: Graphene oxide has been obtained by a modified Hummers method and activated by thionyl chloride in order to be covalently functionalized with amines. Thus obtained hybrid materials were characterized by infrared and Raman spectroscopy, elemental analysis and scanning electron microscopy and then tested for their antimicrobial and anti-biofilm activity. (3) Results: Eight amines of interest were used to functionalize grapheme oxide and the materials thus obtained were tested against Gram-negative (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) bacterial strainsin plankonic and biofilm growth state. Both amines, as well as the functionalized materials, exhibited anti-microbial features. Three to five functionalized graphene oxide materials exhibited improved inhibitory activity against planktonic strains as compared with the respective amines. In exchange, the amines alone proved generally more efficient against biofilm-embedded cells. (4) Conclusions: Such hybrid materials may have a wide range of potential use in biomedical applications.

Lipoic Acid Gold Nanoparticles Functionalized with Organic Compounds as Bioactive Materials

Water soluble gold nanoparticles protected by lipoic acid were obtained and further functionalized by standard coupling reaction with 1-naphtylamine, 4-aminoantipyrine, and 4′-aminobenzo-15-crown-5 ether. Derivatives of lipoic acid with 1-naphtylamine, 4-aminoantipyrine, and 4′-aminobenzo-15-crown-5 ether were also obtained and characterized. All these were tested for their antimicrobial activity, as well as for their influence on mammalian cell viability and cellular cycle. In all cases a decreased antimicrobial activity of the obtained bioactive nanoparticles was observed as compared with the organic compounds, proving that a possible inactivation of the bioactive groups could occur during functionalization. However, both the gold nanoparticles as well as the functionalized bioactive nanosystems proved to be biocompatible at concentrations lower than 50 µg/mL, as revealed by the cellular viability and cell cycle assay, demonstrating their potential for the development of novel antimicrobial agents.

Synthesis and biological activities of some new isonicotinic acid 2-(2-hydroxy-8-substituted-tricyclo[7.3.1.0(2.7)]tridec-13-ylidene)-hydrazides

A series of several new isoniazid derivatives, isonicotinic acid 2-(2-hydroxy-8-substituted-tricyclo[7.3.1.0(2.7)]tridec-13-ylidene)-hydrazides, were synthesized and fully characterized. These new isoniazid derivatives were studied regarding their antibacterial activity and cytotoxicity, as well as their influences on some metabolizing enzymes. The best anti-mycobacterial activity was observed in the case of compounds containing alkyl side chains in the 8 position of tricyclo[7.3.1.0(2.7)]tridec-13-ylidene group. On contrary, the antimicrobial activity of these new compounds against various non-tuberculosis strains showed the best activity to be with the phenyl side chain of compound 6. It proved also to be the most toxic, inducing apoptosis and blocking the cell cycle in G0/G1 phase. The cell cycle was blocked in G0/G1 phase also by compound 3, but this compound did not show any toxicity. All compounds induced the expression of NAT1 and NAT2 genes in HT-29 cell line, and the expression of CYP1A1 in HT-29 and HCT-8 cell lines. The expression level of CYP3A4 was increased by compounds 1, 6 and 7 in HCT-8 cells. These results indicated that the activation of other metabolizing pathways, apart from those of isoniazid, take place. It might also point out the possibility of an increased isoniazid acetylation ratio by co-administration with new compounds in slow acetylators.

Synthesis and bioevaluation of some new isoniazid derivatives

The aim of the study was to synthesize some new compounds with potential anti-tuberculosis activity, containing isoniazid and α,β-unsaturated thiocinnamamide-like thioamides as precursors. The obtained derivatives were evaluated regarding their biological activity (antioxidant and antibacterial), as well as their influence on the eukaryotic cell cycle. The results suggested that the newly obtained derivatives of isoniazid exhibited different biological activities, depending on their structure; thus, the most active compound in terms of anti-oxidant and anti-Mycobacterium tuberculosis effects proved to be the isonicotinic acid N'-(1-amino-1-mercapto-3-phenyl-propen-1-yl)-hydrazide. This compound also increased the expression of NAT1 and NAT2 genes, which are implicated in the metabolism of the isoniazid, demonstrating that it could be rapidly metabolized, and thus well tolerated. The largest spectrum of antibacterial activity (excluding M. tuberculosis) was noticed for the isonicotinic acid N'-[1-amino-1-mercapto-3-(p-chloro-phenyl)-propen-1-yl]-hydrazide, which was also the most cytotoxic, especially at high concentrations, although not significantly affecting the cellular cycle phases. The obtained results showed that the new derivatives could represent potential candidates for the treatment of M. tuberculosis infections, but further research is needed in order to improve their pharmacological properties, by increasing their antimicrobial activity and reducing the risk of side-effects.

Chemical and biological evaluation of some new antipyrine derivatives with particular properties

Starting from 4-amino-antipyrine, six new compounds were synthesized and characterized. The new compounds contain moieties with particular properties, such are ionophore (benzo-15-crown-5), fluorescent (nitrobenzofurazan), stable free radical (nitroxide), or other types of biological active residues, like nitroderivatives, antipyrine or isoniazid residues. They were fully characterized by appropriate means ((1)H and (13)C NMR, IR, UV-Vis, fluorescence, EPR, elemental analysis) and some of their biological properties were evaluated. Hydrophobicity (R(M0), log P), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), and antimicrobial properties are also presented and discussed.

Researches on the Synthesis and Biological Activity of 1,2,4-tiadizoles-3,5-disubstituted using Ditiazolium Salts as Precursors

3,5-disubstituted-1,2,4-tiadiazoles with substituted-styril and heterocycle-vinyl were obtained by extending the method which implies the use of 3,5-disubstituted-1,2,4-ditiazolium salts as precursors [1-4]. A comparative study of the reaction process in the case of perchlorates, diacide phosphates, tribromides and 3,5-distyrile-dithiazolium triiodides, taken as etalon, was perfomed. Good yields were obtained when using perchlorates, phosphates and triiodides. The reaction was made by heating the reaction mixture and by ultrasound exposure. The structure of the compounds was confirmed by chemical and physical analysis and the data obtained were identical to those of 3,5-disubstituted-1,2,4-tiadiazoles obtained by another methods [5,6]. The biological (antibacterial and anticancer) activity of the synthesized compounds was tested and the results indicated a medium activity.

Development of bilirubin transport and metabolism in the newborn rhesus monkey

Hepatic transport and metabolism of bilirubin have been examined in term, premature, and postmature newborn Macaca mulatta (rhesus) monkeys with and without prior phenobarbital treatment of pregnant mother and neonate. In untreated neonates a biphasic pattern of physiologic unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia has been observed. Phase I was characterized by a rapid increase in serum bilirubin concentration to 4.5 mg/dl by 19 hours and an equally rapid decline to 1.0 mg/dl by 48 hours of age. Phase II was characterized by a stable elevation at 1.0 mg/dl (four times greater than in the adult) from 48 to 96 hourse of age, followed by a decline to normal adult concentrations thereafter. An identical pattern was observed in 29 normal, term human neonates, but the duration of each phase was approximately three times as long as that in the monkey. Phase I hyperbilirubinemia appears to result from a sixfold increase in bilirubin load presented to the liver in the neonatal period, combined with marked deficieny in hepatic bilirubin conjugation, the rate-limiting step during Phase I. Hepatic uptake of bilirubin is not rate limiting during Phase I but may contribute to Phase II hyperbilirubinemia. An increased bilirubin load persists throughout the first 19 days of life in the monkey. Phase I physiologic jaundice in the monkey neonate was completely eliminated by prenatal maternal and neonatal administration of phenobarbital. A threefold enhancement of hepatic conjugation of bilirubin (glucuronyl transferase activity) during Phase I entirely accounted for the prevention of hyperbilirubinemia. The bilirubin load was unaffected by administration of phenobarbital. Whereas in control neonates the bilirubin load slightly exceeded hepatic bilirubin conjugating capacity and resulted in retention of bilirubin, in phenobarbital-treated neonates, hepatic conjugating capacity slightly exceeded that required for the bilirubin load. Administration of phenobarbital failed to alter Phase II hyperbilirubinemia and did not enhance either maximal hepatic uptake or excretion of bilirubin. Hepatic glucuronly transferase activity was increased threefold during Phase II and during the remainder of the neonatal period. Premature birth retarded maturation of hepatic glucuronyl transferase activity. In one phenobarbital-treated premature monkey neonate, there was no apparent response to treatment. Accelerated maturation of bilirubin uptake, conjugation, and excretion of bilirubin was observed in one postmature monkey neonate.

Fluorescent dye method for determination of the bilirubin-binding capacity of serum albumin

A simple, rapid microfluorometric method utilizing a fluorescent dye, Direct Yellow 7, for quantitative measurement of serum albumin-binding capacity for bilirubin has been developed. The dye binds exclusively to serum albumin with enhancement of fluorescence. The dye shares bilirubin-binding sites on albumin with up to 2 mols of bilirubin per mol of albumin with differing affinities to the first and second sites. Lowered pH reduces albumin-binding capacity and exposure to light increases binding capacity of icteric sera. The binding capacity of adult human sera is greater than that of human cord sera or purified human serum albumin compared on albumin molar basis.