Design, synthesis, and pharmacological evaluation of N-acylhydrazones and novel conformationally constrained compounds as selective and potent orally active phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitors.

Among a small series of tested N-acylhydrazones (NAHs), the compound 8a was selected as a selective submicromolar phosphodiesterase-4 (PDE4) inhibitor associated with anti-TNF-α properties measured both in vitro and in vivo. The recognition pattern of compound 8a was elucidated through molecular modeling studies based on the knowledge of the 3D-structure of zardaverine, a PDE4 inhibitor resembling the structure of 8a, cocrystallized with the PDE4. Based on further conformational analysis dealing with N-methyl-NAHs, a quinazoline derivative (19) was designed as a conformationally constrained NAH analogue and showed similar in vitro pharmacological profile, compared with 8a. In addition 19 was found active when tested orally in LPS-evoked airway hyperreactivity and fully confirmed the working hypothesis supporting this work.

Synthesis, pharmacological evaluation and docking studies of new sulindac analogues.

This paper describes the synthesis, pharmacological evaluation and docking studies of a series of new sulindac analogues. Overall, the designed compounds revealed good, in vivo, antinociceptive activity and satisfactory anti-inflammatory profile. Flexible molecular docking with COX-1/COX-2 has shown putative binding modes of the designed compounds while the theoretical evaluation of cell permeability based on Lipinski's rule of five has helped rationalize the biological results.