Investigation of α-glucosidase and α-amylase inhibitory effects of phenoxy chalcones and molecular modeling studies.

Diabetes mellitus is one of the most critical health problems affecting the quality of life of people worldwide, especially in developing countries. According to the World Health Organization reports, the number of patients with diabetes is approximately 420 million, and this number is estimated to be 642 million in 2040. There are 2 main types of diabetes: Type 1 (T1DM), where the body cannot produce enough insulin, and Type 2 (T2DM), where the body cannot use insulin properly. Patients with T1DM are treated with insulin injections while oral glucose-lowering drugs are used for patients with T2DM. Oral antihyperglycemic drugs used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus have different mechanisms. Among these, α-Glucosidase and α-amylase inhibitors are one of the most important inhibitors. The antidiabetic effect of the chalcones, which show rich activity, draws attention. This research aims to synthesize chalcone derivatives that could show potential antidiabetic activity. In this study, the inhibitory activity of the chalcone compounds (4a-4g, 5a-5g) was tested against α-glucosidase and α-amylase enzymes. Besides, molecular modeling was utilized to predict potential interactions of the synthesized compounds that exhibit inhibitory effects. In both in vitro and in silico studies, the analyses revealed that compound 5e exhibits strong inhibitory effects against α-glucosidase enzymes (Binding energy: -7.75 kcal/mol, IC50 : 28.88 µM). Additionally, compound 4f demonstrates encouraging inhibitory effects against α-Amylase (Binding energy: -11.08 kcal/mol, IC50 : 46. 21 µM).

Synthesis of benzoyl hydrazones having 4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxy phenyl ring, their biological activities, and molecular modeling studies on enzyme inhibition activities.

Hydrazone compounds have high capacity in terms of antioxidant activity and enzyme inhibition activities such as anticholinesterase, tyrosinase, and urease. In this study, benzoyl hydrazones compounds (7a-7m) were synthesized starting from 3,5-dimethoxy-4-hydroxybenzaldehyde. Antioxidant activity of the synthesized compounds was evaluated. In the ß-carotene-linoleic acid and ABTS cation radical scavenging activities, compounds 7j, 7e, and 7m stood out as the most active compounds, respectively. In the anticholinesterase enzyme inhibition activity results, compound 7f exhibited the best activity against AChE and BChE enzymes in the synthesis series. In addition, molecular docking analysis was performed to understand the inhibition mechanism of the synthesized compounds with target enzymes at the atomic level. In the light of biological activity and in silico studies, it has the potential to guide studies for the development of new drugs for Alzheimer disease in the future.