Dual COX‐2 and 15‐LOX inhibition study of novel 4‐arylidine‐2‐mercapto‐1‐phenyl‐1H‐imidazolidin‐5(4H)‐ones: Design, synthesis, docking, and anti‐inflammatory activity

Abstract

AbstractNovel arylidene‐5(4H)‐imidazolone derivatives 4a–r were designed and evaluated as multidrug‐directed ligands, that is, inflammatory, proinflammatory mediators, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) inhibitors. All of the tested compounds showed cyclooxygenase (COX)‐1 inhibitory effect more than celecoxib and less than indomethacin and also demonstrated an improved inhibitory activity against 15‐lipoxygenase (15‐LOX). Compounds 4f, 4l, and 4p exhibited COX‐2 selectivity comparable to that of celecoxib, while 4k was the most selective COX‐2 inhibitor. Interestingly, the screened results showed that compound 4k exhibited a superior inhibition effect against 15‐LOX and was found to be the most selective COX‐2 inhibitor over celecoxib, whereas compound 4f showed promising COX‐2 and 15‐LOX inhibitory activities besides its inhibitory effect against ROS production and its lowering effect of both tumor necrosis factor‐α and interleukin‐6 levels by ∼80%. Moreover, compound 4f attenuated the lipopolysaccharide‐mediated increase in NF‐κB activation in RAW 264.7 macrophages. The preferred binding affinity of these molecules was confirmed by docking studies. We conclude that arylidene‐5(4H)‐imidazolone scaffolds provide promising hits for developing new synthons with anti‐inflammatory and antioxidant activities.