NO-Donor Dihydroartemisinin Derivatives as Multitarget Agents for the Treatment of Cerebral Malaria

J Med Chem. 2015 Oct 8;58(19):7895-9. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.5b01036. Epub 2015 Sep 24.

Abstract

Hybrid products in which the dihydroartemisinin scaffold is combined with NO-donor furoxan and NONOate moieties have been synthesized and studied as potential tools for the treatment of cerebral malaria (CM). The designed products were able to dilate rat aorta strips precontracted with phenylephrine with a NO-dependent mechanism. All hybrid compounds showed preserved antiplasmodial activity in vitro and in vivo against Plasmodium berghei ANKA, comparable to artesunate and artemether. Hybrid 10, selected for additional studies, was capable of increasing survival of mice with late-stage CM from 27.5% to 51.6% compared with artemether. Artemisinin-NO-donor hybrid compounds show promise as potential new drugs for treating cerebral malaria.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antimalarials / chemical synthesis
  • Antimalarials / chemistry*
  • Antimalarials / pharmacology*
  • Artemether
  • Artemisinins / chemistry*
  • Artemisinins / pharmacology
  • Artesunate
  • Chemistry Techniques, Synthetic
  • Malaria, Cerebral / drug therapy*
  • Mice
  • Molecular Targeted Therapy / methods
  • Muscle Relaxation / drug effects
  • Nitric Oxide Donors / chemistry*
  • Nitric Oxide Donors / pharmacology*
  • Plasmodium berghei / drug effects
  • Rats
  • Vasodilator Agents / chemistry
  • Vasodilator Agents / pharmacology

Substances

  • Antimalarials
  • Artemisinins
  • Nitric Oxide Donors
  • Vasodilator Agents
  • Artesunate
  • artenimol
  • Artemether