André Luis Peixoto Candéa

Synthesis and antitubercular activity of 7-chloro-4-quinolinylhydrazones derivatives

A series of twenty-one 7-chloro-4-quinolinylhydrazones (3a-u) have been synthesized and evaluated for their in vitro antibacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H(37)Rv. The compounds 3f, 3i and 3o were non-cytotoxic and exhibited an important minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) activity (2.5 microg/mL), which can be compared with that of the first line drugs, ethambutol (3.12 microg/mL) and rifampicin (2.0 microg/mL). These results can be considered an important start point for the rational design of new leads for anti-TB compounds.

Antitubercular Activity of New Coumarins

The present article describes a series of 21 N ′‐benzylidene‐2‐oxo‐2H‐chromene‐3‐carbohydrazides 4a–4v, which were synthesized and evaluated for their cell viabilities in non‐infected and Mycobacterium bovis Bacillus Calmette–Guerin‐infected macrophages. Subsequently, the non‐cytotoxic compounds 4c, 4g, 4h, 4j, 4l and 4t were assessed against Mycobacterium tuberculosis ATCC 27294 using the microplate Alamar Blue assay and the activity expressed as the minimum inhibitory concentration in μg/mL. These compounds exhibited a significant activity (50–100 μg/mL) when compared to the first‐line drugs, such as pyrazinamide (PZA >100 μg/mL). These results could be considered a good starting point for further studies to develop new lead compounds to treat multidrug‐resistant tuberculosis.

Metabonomics reveals drastic changes in anti-inflammatory/pro-resolving polyunsaturated fatty acids-derived lipid mediators in leprosy disease.

Despite considerable efforts over the last decades, our understanding of leprosy pathogenesis remains limited. The complex interplay between pathogens and hosts has profound effects on host metabolism. To explore the metabolic perturbations associated with leprosy, we analyzed the serum metabolome of leprosy patients. Samples collected from lepromatous and tuberculoid patients before and immediately after the conclusion of multidrug therapy (MDT) were subjected to high-throughput metabolic profiling. Our results show marked metabolic alterations during leprosy that subside at the conclusion of MDT. Pathways showing the highest modulation were related to polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) metabolism, with emphasis on anti-inflammatory, pro-resolving omega-3 fatty acids. These results were confirmed by eicosanoid measurements through enzyme-linked immunoassays. Corroborating the repertoire of metabolites altered in sera, metabonomic analysis of skin specimens revealed alterations in the levels of lipids derived from lipase activity, including PUFAs, suggesting a high lipid turnover in highly-infected lesions. Our data suggest that omega-6 and omega-3, PUFA-derived, pro-resolving lipid mediators contribute to reduced tissue damage irrespectively of pathogen burden during leprosy disease. Our results demonstrate the utility of a comprehensive metabonomic approach for identifying potential contributors to disease pathology that may facilitate the development of more targeted treatments for leprosy and other inflammatory diseases.

Synthesis and Antitubercular Activity of Heteroaromatic Isonicotinoyl and 7-Chloro-4-Quinolinyl Hydrazone Derivatives

Two series of N’(E)-heteroaromatic-isonicotinohydrazide derivatives (3a-f and 4a-b) and 1-(7-chloroquinolin-4-yl)-2-[(heteroaromatic)methylene]hydrazone derivatives (5a-f and 6a-b) have been synthesized and evaluated for their in vitro antibacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv. Several compounds were noncytotoxic and exhibited significant minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) activity (3.12, 2.50, 1.25, or 0.60 μg/mL), which can be compared to that of the first-line drugs ethambutol (3.12 μg/mL) and rifampicin (2.0 μg/ml). These results can be considered an important starting point for the rational design of new leads for anti-TB compounds.

Lipoxin A4 attenuates endothelial dysfunction during experimental cerebral malaria

A breakdown of the brain-blood barrier (BBB) due to endothelial dysfunction is a primary feature of cerebral malaria (CM). Lipoxins (LX) are specialized pro-resolving mediators that attenuate endothelial dysfunction in different vascular beds. It has already been shown that LXA4 prolonged Plasmodium berghei-infected mice survival by a mechanism that depends on inhibiting IL-12 production and CD8(+)IFN-γ(+) T cells in brain tissue; however, the effects of this treatment on endothelial dysfunction induced during experimental cerebral malaria (ECM) remains to be elucidated. Herein, we investigate the role of LXA4 on endothelial dysfunction during ECM. The treatment of P. berghei-infected mice with LXA4 prevented BBB breakdown and ameliorated behavioral symptoms but did not modulate TNF-α production. In addition, microcirculation analysis showed that treatment with LXA4 significantly increased functional capillary density in brains of P. berghei-infected C57BL/6 mice. Furthermore, histological analyses of brain sections demonstrated that exogenous LXA4 reduced capillary congestion that was accompanied by reduced ICAM-1 expression in the brain tissue. In agreement, LXA4 treatment of endothelial cells stimulated by Plasmodium berghei (Pb)- or Plasmodium falciparum (Pf)-parasitized red blood cells (RBCs) inhibited ICAM-1 expression. Additionally, LXA4 treatment restored the expression of HO-1 that is reduced during ECM. As well, LXA4 treatment inhibits PbRBC and PfRBC adhesion to endothelial cells that was reversed by the use of an HO-1 inhibitor (ZnPPIX). Our results demonstrate for the first time that LXA4 ameliorates endothelial dysfunction during ECM by modulating ICAM-1 and HO-1 expression in brain tissue.

Anti-inflammatory Effect of Methyl Gallate on Experimental Arthritis: Inhibition of Neutrophil Recruitment, Production of Inflammatory Mediators, and Activation of Macrophages

Methyl gallate (MG) is a prevalent phenolic acid in the plant kingdom, and its presence in herbal medicines might be related to its remarkable biological effects, such as its antioxidant, antitumor, and antimicrobial activities. Although some indirect evidence suggests anti-inflammatory activity for MG, there are no studies demonstrating this effect in animal models. Herein, we demonstrated that MG (0.7-70 mg/kg) inhibited zymosan-induced experimental arthritis in a dose-dependent manner. The oral administration of MG (7 mg/kg) attenuates arthritis induced by zymosan, affecting edema formation, leukocyte migration, and the production of inflammatory mediators (IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, CXCL-1, LTB4, and PGE2). Pretreatment with MG inhibited in vitro neutrophil chemotaxis elicited by CXCL-1, as well as the adhesion of these cells to TNF-α-primed endothelial cells. MG also impaired zymosan-stimulated macrophages by inhibiting IL-6 and NO production, COX-2 and iNOS expression, and intracellular calcium mobilization. Thus, MG is likely to present an anti-inflammatory effect by targeting multiple cellular events such as the production of various inflammatory mediators, as well as leukocyte activation and migration.

Antitubercular activity of α,ω-diaminoalkanes, H2N(CH2)nNH2

A series of 11 alpha,omega-diaminoalkanes, (H(2)N(CH(2))(n)NH(2), n=2-12) have been evaluated for their in vitro antibacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv. Compounds, (H(2)N(CH(2))(n)NH(2), n=9-12), exhibited a very good activities in the range 2.50-3.12 microg/mL, which can be compared with that of the first line drug, ethambutol (3.12 microg/mL). These results and a preliminary QSAR study can be considered an important start point for the rational design of new leads for anti-TB compounds.

Synthesis and antitubercular activity of new L-serinyl hydrazone derivatives.

A series of 32 L-serinyl hydrazone derivatives have been synthesized and evaluated for their in vitro antibacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv, being also evaluated their cell viabilities in non infected and infected macrophages with Mycobacterium bovis Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG). The compounds 8c, 8e, 8h and 8i, were non-cytotoxic and exhibited an important minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) activity between 25 and 100 μg/mL, which can be compared with that of the tuberculostatic drug D-cicloserine (5-20 μg/mL).

Anti-Mycobacterial Evaluation of 7-Chloro-4-Aminoquinolines and Hologram Quantitative Structure–Activity Relationship (HQSAR) Modeling of Amino–Imino Tautomers

In an ongoing research program for the development of new anti-tuberculosis drugs, we synthesized three series (A, B, and C) of 7-chloro-4-aminoquinolines, which were evaluated in vitro against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). Now, we report the anti-MTB and cytotoxicity evaluations of a new series, D (D01–D21). Considering the active compounds of series A (A01–A13), B (B01–B13), C (C01–C07), and D (D01–D09), we compose a data set of 42 compounds and carried out hologram quantitative structure–activity relationship (HQSAR) analysis. The amino–imino tautomerism of the 4-aminoquinoline moiety was considered using both amino (I) and imino (II) forms as independent datasets. The best HQSAR model from each dataset was internally validated and both models showed significant statistical indexes. Tautomer I model: leave-one-out (LOO) cross-validated correlation coefficient (q2) = 0.80, squared correlation coefficient (r2) = 0.97, standard error (SE) = 0.12, cross-validated standard error (SEcv) = 0.32. Tautomer II model: q2 = 0.77, r2 = 0.98, SE = 0.10, SEcv = 0.35. Both models were externally validated by predicting the activity values of the corresponding test set, and the tautomer II model, which showed the best external prediction performance, was used to predict the biological activity responses of the compounds that were not evaluated in the anti-MTB trials due to poor solubility, pointing out D21 for further solubility studies to attempt to determine its actual biological activity.