S.K. Puri

Substituted quinolinyl chalcones and quinolinyl pyrimidines as a new class of anti-infective agents.

Frequency of tuberculosis and malaria is progressively increasing worldwide. New emerging strain of bacterium and resistance to currently available drugs make this field more conscientious and alarming. In this connection a series of substituted quinolinyl chalcones and substituted quinolinyl pyrimidines were synthesized and evaluated for their in vitro antitubercular activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H(37)R(V) and antimalarial activity against NF-54 strain of Plasmodium falciparum. A comparison of structure-activity relationship reveals that different physicochemical and structural requirements exist for these two activities. Out of synthesized compounds, compound nos. 22 and 23 have shown antitubercular activity of MIC 3.12 microg/mL and were nontoxic against VERO, MBMDM cell lines and compounds 54, 55, and 56 have shown antimalarial activity of MIC 1 microg/mL.

Synthesis of new 4-aminoquinolines and quinoline-acridine hybrids as antimalarial agents.

Despite emergence of resistance to CQ and other 4-aminoquinoline drugs in most of the endemic regions, research findings provide considerable support that there is still significant potential to discover new affordable, safe, and efficacious 4-aminoquinoline antimalarials. In present study, new side chain modified 4-aminoquinoline derivatives and quinoline-acridine hybrids were synthesized and evaluated in vitro against NF 54 strain of Plasmodium falciparum. Among the evaluated compounds, compound 17 (MIC=0.125 μg/mL) was equipotent to standard drug CQ (MIC=0.125 μg/mL) and compound 21 (MIC=0.031 μg/mL) was four times more potent than CQ. Compound 17 showed the curative response to all the treated swiss mice infected with CQ-resistant N-67 strain of Plasmodium yoelii at the doses 50 mg/kg and 25 mg/kg for four days by intraperitoneal route and was found to be orally active at the dose of 100 mg/kg for four days. The promising antimalarial potency of compound 17 highlights the significance of exploring the privileged 4-aminoquinoline class for new antimalarials.

Synthesis of novel thiourea, thiazolidinedione and thioparabanic acid derivatives of 4-aminoquinoline as potent antimalarials

In search of new 4-aminoquinolines which are not recognized by CQR mechanism, thiourea, thiazolidinedione and thioparabanic acid derivatives of 4-aminoquinoline were synthesized and screened for their antimalarial activities. Thiourea derivative 3 found to be the most active against CQ sensitive strain 3D7 of Plasmodium falciparum in an in vitro model with an IC(50) of 6.07ng/mL and also showed an in vivo suppression of 99.27% on day 4 against CQ resistant strain N-67 of Plasmodium yoelii.

Synthesis of oxalamide and triazine derivatives as a novel class of hybrid 4-aminoquinoline with potent antiplasmodial activity

Frequency of malaria and its resistance to chemotherapeutic options are emerging rapidly. To counter this problem, a series of 4-aminoquinolines having oxalamide and triazine functionalities in the side chain were synthesized and screened for their antimalarial activities. Triazine derivative 48 found to be the most active against CQ sensitive strain 3D7 of Plasmodium falciparum in an in vitro assay with an IC(50) of 5.23 ng/mL and oxalamide derivative 13 showed an in vivo suppression of 70.45% on day 4 against CQ resistant strain N-67 of Plasmodium yoelii.

Oxidant-antioxidant imbalance in the erythrocytes of sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients correlates with the progression of disease.

Free radicals are implicated in numerous disease processes including motor neuron degeneration (MND). Antioxidant defense enzymes: superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSHPx), glutathione reductase (GR) and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6-PDH) in the erythrocytes are capable of detoxifying reactive oxygen species produced endogenously or exogenously. In the present study, the extent of lipid peroxidation (LPO) and antioxidant defenses were evaluated in the erythrocytes of 20 sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients and 20 controls. We observed that lipid peroxidation in the erythrocytes of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients significantly increased with respect to controls (P<0.001). On the other hand, catalase activity was found to be significantly lower (P<0.001). The activities of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, glutathione reductase and glutathione levels were also found to be significantly reduced in ALS patients compared to healthy subjects (P<0.001, P<0.01 and P<0.01, respectively). It was further observed that lipid peroxidation started to increase and catalase, glutathione reductase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase enzyme activities and glutathione levels started to decrease as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis progressed from 6 to 24 months, suggesting a correlation between these parameters and duration of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. This study confirms the involvement of oxidative stress during the progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and the need to develop specific peripheral biomarkers.

Synthesis of substituted 3-iodocoumarins and 3-iodobutenolides via electrophilic iodocyclization of ethoxyalkyne diols.

A convenient and general synthesis of various 4-substituted 3-iodocoumarins and 4,5-disubstituted 3-iodobutenolides is described via an exclusive 6-endo-dig iodocyclization of 3-ethoxy-1-(2-alkoxyphenyl)-2-yn-1-ols and 5-endo-dig iodocyclization of 1-alkoxy-4-ethoxy-3-yn-1,2-diols, respectively. The reaction is carried out under very mild conditions using I2 in CH2Cl2 or toluene at room temperature. Oxygens in OMe and OMOM groups were used as efficient nucleophiles for this intramolecular cyclization to obtain the products in good to excellent yields.

In-vitro culture of Plasmodium falciparum: Utility of modified (RPNI) medium for drug-sensitivity studies using SYBR Green I assay

Studies were carried out to establish the potential of RPNI medium for drug-sensitivity studies using the MSF assay. The drug sensitivity of standard anti-malarials was compared using both the ((3)H) Hypoxanthine incorporation assay and the MSF assay. The media supplements used during the study have been human serum, FBS and ALBUMAX-II. Drug sensitivity of two parasite lines, adapted to grow separately in conventional as well as in RPNI medium was compared to observe the effect of RPNI medium on functional characteristics of the parasite. The results revealed identical IC(50) values of standard anti-malarials obtained by both the ((3)H) Hypoxanthine incorporation assay and the MSF assay and no untoward effect of FBS and ALBUMAX-II could be noticed on the chemo-sensitivity of standard anti-malarials. Apart from this the chemo-sensitive response of parasite line adapted to grow in RPNI medium was observed to be intact. These findings showed that RPNI medium has potential to be used for chemo-sensitivity studies and the MSF assay being more convenient was observed to be most suitable assay for bio evaluation of new molecules.

Coumarin-trioxane hybrids: synthesis and evaluation as a new class of antimalarial scaffolds.

First synthesis of novel coumarin-trioxane hybrids is reported. The synthesis was achieved via condensation of β-hydroxyhydroperoxides with coumarinic-aldehydes in presence of p-toluenesulfonic acid in good yields and the novel hybrids were evaluated for their antimalarial activity both in vitro and in vivo.

Iodo Meyer–Schuster Rearrangement of 3-Alkoxy-2-yn-1-ols for β-Mono (Exclusively Z-Selective)-/Disubstituted α-Iodo-α,β-Unsaturated Esters

We herein present the iodo Meyer-Schuster rearrangement of 3-alkoxypropargyl alcohols for α-iodo-α,β-unsaturated esters using iodine or NIS in dichloromethane at ambient temperature. Substrates prepared from both aldehydes and ketones are found to be equally good feedstock for the reaction to produce β-mono- and -disubstituted products. Irrespective of the substitution, substrates prepared from aldehydes gave Z-isomers exclusively.

Synthesis of 9-anilinoacridine triazines as new class of hybrid antimalarial agents

There is challenge and urgency to synthesize cost-effective chemotherapeutic agents for treatment of malaria after the widespread development of resistance to CQ. In the present study, we synthesized a new series of hybrid 9-anilinoacridine triazines using the cheap chemicals 6,9-dichloro-2-methoxy acridine and cyanuric chloride. The series of new hybrid 9-anilinoacridine triazines were evaluated in vitro for their antimalarial activity against CQ-sensitive 3D7 strain of Plasmodium falciparum and their cytotoxicity were determined on VERO cell line. Of the evaluated compounds, two compounds 17 (IC(50)=4.21 nM) and 22 (IC(50)=4.27 nM) displayed two times higher potency than CQ (IC(50)=8.15 nM). Most of the compounds showed fairly high selectivity index. The compounds 13 and 29 displayed >96.59% and 98.73% suppression, respectively, orally against N-67 strain of Plasmodium yoelii in swiss mice at dose 100 mg/kg for four days.