Ruhi Ali

Antidepressant potential of nitrogen-containing heterocyclic moieties: An updated review

Depression is currently the fourth leading cause of disease or disability worldwide. Antidepressant is approved for the treatment of major depression (including paediatric depression), obsessive-compulsive disorder (in both adult and paediatric populations), bulimia nervosa, panic disorder and premenstrual dysphoric disorder. Antidepressant is a psychiatric medication used to alleviate mood disorders, such as major depression and dysthymia and anxiety disorders such as social anxiety disorder. Many drugs produce an antidepressant effect, but restrictions on their use have caused controversy and off-label prescription a risk, despite claims of superior efficacy. Our current understanding of its pathogenesis is limited and existing treatments are inadequate, providing relief to only a subset of people suffering from depression. Reviews of literature suggest that heterocyclic moieties and their derivatives has proven success in treating depression.

Design, Synthesis and Evaluation of Anticonvulsant Activity of Pyridinyl-Pyrrolidones: A Pharmacophore Hybrid Approach

Various 1‐[6‐(4‐substituted phenyl)‐3‐cyano‐4‐(substituted phenyl)‐pyridin‐2‐yl]‐5‐oxopyrrolidine‐3‐carboxylic acids (3a–t) were designed and synthesized by clubbing pyrrolidinones and pyridines, the two active anticonvulsant pharmacophores. All the synthesized compounds fulfilled the requirements of suggested pharmacophoric model for anticonvulsant activity. Their in vivo anticonvulsant evaluation was performed by maximal electroshock seizure (MES) and subcutaneous pentylenetetrazole (scPTZ) tests. The minimal motor impairment was assessed by rotorod test and the estimation of various liver enzymes was performed to check the magnitude of liver toxicity posed by the synthesized compounds. Compounds 3d and 3k displayed comparable anticonvulsant activity to the standard drugs with ED50 values of 13.4 and 18.6 mg/kg in electroshock screen, repectively. The compounds 3d and 3k were also found to have encouraging anticonvulsant activity (ED50 = 86.1 and 271.6 mg/kg, respectively) in scPTZ screen. Interestingly, they did not show any sign of motor impairment at the maximum dose administered and were not toxic to the liver.

Biological Aspects of Emerging Benzothiazoles: A Short Review

In recent years heterocyclic compounds analogues and derivatives have attracted wide attention due to their useful biological and pharmacological properties. Benzothiazole is among the usually occurring heterocyclic nuclei in many marine as well as natural plant products. Benzothiazole is a privileged bicyclic ring system with multiple applications. It is known to exhibit a wide range of biological properties including anticancer, antimicrobial, and antidiabetic, anticonvulsant, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antitubercular activities. A large number of therapeutic agents are synthesized with the help of benzothiazole nucleus. During recent years there have been some interesting developments in the biological activities of benzothiazole derivatives. These compounds have special significance in the field of medicinal chemistry due to their remarkable pharmacological potentialities. This review is mainly an attempt to present the research work reported in the recent scientific literature on different biological activities of benzothiazole compounds.

New benzo[d]thiazol-2-yl-aminoacetamides as potential anticonvulsants: synthesis, activity and prediction of molecular properties.

A series of N‐(substituted‐2‐oxo‐4‐phenylazetidin‐1‐yl)‐2‐((6‐substitutedbenzo[d]thiazol‐2‐yl)amino)acetamide derivatives were synthesized using pharmacophoric features with aromatic hydrophobic aryl ring (A), NHCO as hydrogen bonding domain, the nitrogen atom as electron donor (D), and phenyl as distal aryl ring (C). The synthesized molecules were initially screened for anticonvulsant activity using the maximal electroshock seizure (MES) test and the subcutaneous pentylenetetrazole test in albino mice. An acute neurotoxicity study on the synthesized molecules was also carried out using the rotarod test. The results of these tests revealed that two compounds, 5b and 5q, showed promising activity with ED50 values of 15.4 and 18.6 mg/kg and protective indices of 20.7 and 34.9 in the MES test, respectively, which are found to be approximately fourfold higher than those of the standard drugs phenytoin (6.9) and carbamazepine (8.1). These molecules may act as lead of the designed scheme. The pharmacokinetic profiles of all the synthesized compounds were estimated using Molinspiration software. None of the compounds violated Lipinskis “rule of five”. The possible structure–activity relationship was discussed. In conclusion, this manuscript shows that the developed model has a highly prognostic power for the further investigation of better benzothiazole derivatives for future discovery and development.

Pharmacological evidences for cytotoxic and antitumor properties of Boswellic acids from Boswellia serrata

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE Increasing research on traditional herbal medicines and their phytoconstituents has recognized their usefulness in complementary as adjuvant to chemotherapy in various types of cancers. The oleo-gum resin of Boswellia serrata tree is one such folk medicine, which has been traditionally used for religious, cosmetic as well as medical purposes since ages. The oleo-gum resin of the plant has been used in traditional medicine to treat variety of conditions including inflammatory diseases like arthritis, asthma, chronic pain, bowel conditions and many other diseases. This review presents an overview of scientific studies on cytotoxic and antitumor properties of B. serrata and its constituents. MATERIALS AND METHODS Literature search was carried out for activities of B. serrata and various isolated boswellic acids such as β-boswellic acid, 11-keto-β-boswellic acid and acetyl-11-keto-β-boswellic acid reported in various cancer types in vitro as well as in vivo. RESULTS The triterpenoidal fraction of B. serrata (containing boswellic acids) is responsible for the cytotoxic and antitumor properties. Among the screened compounds, 3-O-acetyl-11-keto-β-boswellic acid has been found to be most promising cytotoxic molecule. The cytotoxic and antitumor effects are mainly due to induction of apoptosis through caspase activation, increased Bax expression, NF-κB down regulation and induction of poly (ADP)-ribose polymerase (PARP) cleavage. CONCLUSIONS Boswellic acids appear to be promising candidates for anticancer drug development in future. However, further in vivo studies are needed. Studies in combination with clinically used anticancer drugs and QSAR studies on individual boswellic acid also need to be carried out.

Anticonvulsant and Toxicity Evaluation of Newer 4H‐Benzo[1,4]oxazin‐3‐ones: The Effect of Two Hydrogen Bonding Domains

A series of (Z)‐2‐(substituted aryl)‐N‐(3‐oxo‐4‐(substituted carbamothioyl)‐3,4‐dihydro‐2H‐benzo[b][1,4]oxazin‐7‐yl) hydrazine carboxamides (6a–r) was synthesized using 2‐amino‐5‐nitrophenol as a starting material. All the synthesized compounds possessed two hydrogen‐bonding domains and their effect on the activity was studied thereof. The anticonvulsant activity was assessed by the maximal electroshock test (MES), subcutaneous pentylenetetrazole test (scPTZ) and intraperitoneal thiosemicarbazide test (ipTSC). Compounds (6b, 6h, 6i, and 6p) were found to be the most potent of the series as they showed 83–100% protection in the MES test. They also displayed considerable activity in the chemically induced seizure tests. Most of the tested compounds were devoid of the neurotoxic and hepatotoxic effects.

Preliminary Anticonvulsant and Toxicity Screening of Substituted Benzylidenehydrazinyl-N-(6-substituted benzo[d]thiazol-2-yl)propanamides

Keeping in view the structural requirements suggested in the pharmacophore model for anticonvulsant activity, a new series of 3-(2-(substitutedbenzylidene)hydrazinyl)-N-(substituted benzo[d]thiazol-2-yl)-propanamides were synthesized with aromatic hydrophobic aryl ring (A), NH–C=O as hydrogen bonding domain (HBD), nitrogen atom as electron donor (D), and phenyl as distal aryl ring (C). Synthesized compounds were characterized by FTIR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, mass spectroscopy, and elemental analysis. Preliminary in vivo anticonvulsant screening (phase I) was performed by two most adopted seizure models, maximal electroshock seizure (MES) and subcutaneous pentylenetetrazole (scPTZ). Based on anticonvulsant screening results, two compounds, 5h and 5p, were found to be most active; they exhibited activity comparable to standard drugs phenytoin (PHY) and carbamazepine (CBZ). These active compounds were subjected to phase II and phase III screening, where they displayed much higher protective index (PI) in comparison to the standard drugs. In phase IV screening, the bioavailability of active compounds was assessed on oral administration. Further, preliminary safety profiles of 5h and 5p were evaluated by the neurotoxicity testing and liver enzyme estimation.

Synthesis of new piperidyl indanone derivatives as anticonvulsant agents

A series of 5,6-dimethoxy-2-{1-[arylamino/alkylamino(thioxo)methyl]-4-piperidyl-methyl}-1-indanones (4a–l) were designed and synthesized by the reaction of 5,6-dimethoxy-2-(piperidin-4-yl-methyl)-indan-1-one with aryl/alkyl isothiocyanates. The anticonvulsant activity was evaluated in animal models by maximal electroshock seizure and subcutaneous pentylenetetrazole tests. The neurotoxic effects were assessed by rotorod and ethanol potentiation tests. Gamma amino butyric acid (GABA) estimation of the selected compounds was performed in rat brain utilizing UV absorbance data. Compounds 4d, 4g, and 4j displayed encouraging anticonvulsant profile against both seizure models with remarkably lower neurotoxicity. These compounds were found to increase the GABA level in rat brain significantly.