Issue 14, 2023

Design and synthesis of novel glycyrrhetinic acid-triazole derivatives that exert anti-plasmodial activity inducing mitochondrial-dependent apoptosis in Plasmodium falciparum

Abstract

Malaria is an enormous threat to public health due to the emergence of Plasmodium falciparum resistance to widely used anti-malarials, such as chloroquine. Additionally, the commercially used antimalarial drugs affected by this drug resistance are associated with side effects; thus, there is a need to identify a template with fewer side effects and improved efficacy. Therefore, in the present study, a click chemistry approach was used to design and synthesize glycyrrhetinic acid-triazole derivatives and determine their antiplasmodial activity against a chloroquine-sensitive (NF-54) strain of P. falciparum. Among the sixteen glycyrrhetinic acid derivatives, compound-17 was found to be the most active against the chloroquine-sensitive (NF-54) strain of P. falciparum with an IC50 of 0.47 ± 0.04 μM. However, compound-17 showed no effect on heme polymerization, the most common target in malaria parasites. The increased ROS levels, decrease in the GSH/GSSG ratio, metabolic activity, mitochondrial potential, further increase in the caspase-3 activity, and DNA damage are possibly responsible for the apoptotic death of P. falciparum. Interestingly, compound-17 showed significant chemo-suppression of parasitemia and hemoglobin content, reduced hepatic damage, decreased production of inflammatory cytokines, and decreased plasmodial infection in mice models. In vitro cytotoxicity/hemolysis assay suggests that compound-17 is safe to explore its therapeutic properties further. Based on these results, the synthesized compound-17 appears to be a viable template derivative, able to overcome the problem of drug-resistance and enhance anti-plasmodial activity against P. falciparum, making it an attractive anti-malarial agent.

Graphical abstract: Design and synthesis of novel glycyrrhetinic acid-triazole derivatives that exert anti-plasmodial activity inducing mitochondrial-dependent apoptosis in Plasmodium falciparum

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
30 Oct 2022
Accepted
04 Mar 2023
First published
13 Mar 2023

New J. Chem., 2023,47, 6967-6982

Design and synthesis of novel glycyrrhetinic acid-triazole derivatives that exert anti-plasmodial activity inducing mitochondrial-dependent apoptosis in Plasmodium falciparum

D. S. Kapkoti, S. Kumar, A. Kumar, M. P. Darokar, A. Pal and R. S. Bhakuni, New J. Chem., 2023, 47, 6967 DOI: 10.1039/D2NJ05302K

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