Publications

The present study was undertaken to examine structural features of L-chicoric acid (3) which are important for potency against purified HIV-1 integrase and for reported cytoprotective effects in cell-based systems. Through a progressive series of analogues, it was shown that enantiomeric D-chicoric acid (4) retains inhibitory potency against purified integrase equal to its L-counterpart and further that removal of either one or both carboxylic functionalities results in essentially no loss of inhibitory potency. Additionally, while two caffeoyl moieties are required, attachment of caffeoyl groups to the central linking structure can be achieved via amide or mixed amide/ester linkages. More remarkable is the finding that blockage of the catechol functionality through conversion to tetraacetate esters results in almost no loss of potency, contingent on the presence of at least one carboxyl group on the central linker. Taken as a whole, the work has resulted in the identification of new integrase inhibitors which may be regarded as bis-caffeoyl derivatives of glycidic acid and amino acids such as serine and beta-aminoalanine. The present study also examined the reported ability of chicoric acid to exert cytoprotective effects in HIV-infected cells. It was demonstrated in target and cell-based assays that the chicoric acids do not significantly inhibit other targets associated with HIV-1 replication, including reverse transcription, protease function, NCp7 zinc finger function, or replication of virus from latently infected cells. In CEM cells, for both the parent chicoric acid and selected analogues, antiviral activity was observable under specific assay conditions and with high dependence on the multiplicity of viral infection. However, against HIV-1- and HIV-2-infected MT-4 cells, the chicoric acids and their tetraacetylated esters exhibited antiviral activity (50% effective concentration (EC50) ranging from 1.7 to 20 microM and 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) ranging from 40 to 60 microM).

A series of novel N-substituted indophenazine derivatives were synthesised and screened for antiviral activity against a panel of human pathogenic viruses. New compounds were synthesised through modifying the N-hydrogen of indophenazine moiety with different substitution and formaldehyde by Mannich reaction. The structure of the synthetic compounds was characterised by means of infra red and nuclear magnetic resonance spectral data. The compound 10H-indolo-2-Amino pyridine [3,2-b] quinoxalines inhibits Herpes simplex virus-1 and vaccinia virus at a concentration of 12 μg/ml, and the cytotoxicy was found to be 100 μg/ml. 4-Aminobenzene sulfonamide-10H-indolo [3,2-b] quinoxalines inhibit vaccinia virus at a concentration of 12 μg/ml and cytotoxicy was found to be 100 μg/ml. The anti-HIV activities of the new compounds were also screened for in vitro antiviral activity against replication of HIV-1 (IIIB) and HIV-2 (ROD) in MT-4 cells using zidovudine (AZT) as standard. Pthalimide derivative inhibited the replication of HIV-2 (EC(50)=11.60 μg/ml and CC(50)=61.63 μg/ml) in MT-4 cells.

Abstract For Abstract see ChemInform Abstract in Full Text.

The synthesis of some new aminoadamantane derivatives is described. The new compounds were evaluated against a wide range of viruses [influenza A H1N1, influenza A H2N2, influenza A H3N2, influenza B, parainfluenza 3, herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and type 2 (HSV-2), thymidine kinase-deficient (TK-) HSV-1, vaccinia, vesicular stomatitis, polio 1, Coxsackie B4, Sindbis, Semliki forest, Reo 1, varicella-zoster virus (VZV), TK- VZV, human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), and human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and type 2 (HIV-2)]. Some of them proved markedly active against the influenza A H2N2 (compounds 4a,b, 5a, 6a, and 7a), H3N2 (compounds 5a, 6a, and 7a), and H1N1 (compounds 4b,c and 6d). Since compounds 5a, 6a, and 7a, amantadine, and rimantadine showed the same comparative pattern of potency against influenza strains H2N2, H3N2, and B, it may postulated that they act according to a similar mechanism, with regard to their "amine" effect, on the M2 ion channel of influenza A (H1N1, H2N2, or H3N2). In general, no significant activity was noted with any of the new compounds against any of the other viruses tested, making their activity against influenza virus more specific and striking. Borderline activity was noted with some of the compounds (4b,c, 5a-c, and 8a) against HIV-1.

3-Chlorobenzofuran-2-carbaldehyde was condensed with substituted acetophenone by using the Claisen-Schmidt condensation to obtain 3-(3-chlorobenzofuran-2-yl)-1-(substituted phenyl)-2-propen-1-one (2a-m) which upon further treatment with hydrazine hydrate gave 2-[3-(substituted phenyl)-4,5-dihydro-1H-5- pyrazolyl)benzofuran-3-yl chloride derivatives (3a-m). All the newly synthesized derivatives were evaluated in vitro for cytotoxicity and antiviral activity in Crandell-Rees Feline Kidney cell, human embryonic lung (HEL) cell, HeLa cell and Vero cell cultures against different viruses. Several compounds, i.e. 2f, 2g, 2i, 2m, 3b, 3d, 3g, 3h and 3m proved quite cytotoxic to the host cells (minimum cytotoxic concentration: 1-10 microg/mL). No specific antiviral activity [50% antivirally effective concentration (EC(50)) >or= 5-fold lower than the minimum cytototoxic concentration] was observed for any of the compounds.

Currently there is no clinically effective antiviral agent for the prevention or treatment of ocular adenoviral infections. Using a paired-eye, masked design, we tested the antiviral efficacy of topical 0.1% (S)-1-(3-hydroxy-2-phosphonylmethoxypropyl)cytosine in the New Zealand rabbit ocular model after topical and intrastromal inoculation with 100 microliters (4 x 10(5) plaque-forming units per eye) of adenovirus type 5 McEwen, a clinical isolate. Prevention studies involved pretreatment (six times a day) 1 day before inoculation and continuing for 4 additional days. Compared with the control eyes, the pretreated eyes showed a significant reduction in the peak viral eye titers on days 3, 4, 5, and 7 after treatment (p < 0.03-0.005), and a reduction in the duration of viral sheeding (p < 0.02). Rebound increase in adenoviral titers was detected in five of 20 eyes (25%) after cessation of treatment, suggesting a therapeutic effect and a need for further studies to optimize the treatment regimen.