Antileishmanial activity of 5-nitroindazole derivatives

• Published in: Therapeutic advances in infectious disease Vol. 10
• Main Authors: Mollineda-Diogo, Niurka, Chaviano-Montes de Oca, Claudia Sissely, Sifontes-Rodríguez, Sergio, Espinosa-Buitrago, Teresa, Monzote-Fidalgo, Lianet, Meneses-Marcel, Alfredo, Morales-Helguera, Aliuska, Perez-Castillo, Yunierkis, Arán-Redó, Vicente
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01-01-2023; Sage Publications Ltd; SAGE Publishing
• Subjects: Acetic acid; Amastigotes; Amphotericin B; Cytotoxicity; Ethyl acetate; Intracellular; Leishmaniasis; Macrophages; Original Research; Parasite resistance; Promastigotes; Protozoa; 2-bencyl-5-nitroindazolin-3-one; promastigote; amastigote; leishmaniasis; indazole
• ISSN: 2049-9361; 2049-937X
• DOI: 10.1177/20499361231208294

Background:
Currently, there is no safe and effective vaccine against leishmaniasis and existing therapies are inadequate due to high toxicity, cost and decreased efficacy caused by the emergence of resistant parasite strains. Some indazole derivatives have shown in vitro and in vivo activity against Trichomonas vaginalis and Trypanosoma cruzi. On that basis, 20 indazole derivatives were tested in vitro against Leishmania amazonensis.
Objective:
To evaluate the in vitro activity of twenty 2-benzyl-5-nitroindazolin-3-one derivatives against L. amazonensis.
Design:
For the selection of promising compounds, it is necessary to evaluate the indicators for in vitro activity. For this aim, a battery of studies for antileishmanial activity and cytotoxicity were implemented. These results enabled the determination of the substituents in the indazole derivatives responsible for activity and selectivity, through the analysis of the structure–activity relationship (SAR).
Methods:
In vitro cytotoxicity against mouse peritoneal macrophages and growth inhibitory activity in promastigotes were evaluated for 20 compounds. Compounds that showed adequate selectivity were tested against intracellular amastigotes. The SAR from the results in promastigotes was represented using the SARANEA software.
Results:
Eight compounds showed selectivity index >10% and 50% inhibitory concentration <1 µM against the promastigote stage. Against intracellular amastigotes, four were as active as Amphotericin B. The best results were obtained for 2-(benzyl-2,3-dihydro-5-nitro-3-oxoindazol-1-yl) ethyl acetate, with 50% inhibitory concentration of 0.46 ± 0.01 µM against amastigotes and a selectivity index of 875. The SAR study showed the positive effect on the selectivity of the hydrophilic fragments substituted in position 1 of 2-benzyl-5- nitroindazolin-3-one, which played a key role in improving the selectivity profile of this series of compounds.
Conclusion:
2-bencyl-5-nitroindazolin-3-one derivatives showed selective and potent in vitro activity, supporting further investigations on this family of compounds as potential antileishmanial hits.