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Background: Cyclosporin (CsA) is metabolized primarily in the liver by cytochrome P-450 enzymes. Concomitant use of fluconazole can increase CsA concentrations by inhibiting this enzyme system and the effect seems to be dose dependent, with no interaction noted when fluconazole is used in a dose of 100 mg/day. Two previous investigations studying this interaction while using higher doses of fluconazole have provided inconsistent results. Recommendations advising an empirical 50% CsA dosage reduction in these patients have not been tested in a prospective trial. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Introduction: Plantar cutaneous augmentation is a promising approach in balance rehabilitation by enhancing motion-dependent sensory feedback. The effect of plantar cutaneous augmentation on balance has been mainly investigated in its passive form (e.g., textured insole) or on lower-limb amputees. In this study, we tested the effect of plantar cutaneous augmentation on balance in its active form (i.e., electrical stimulation) for individuals with intact limbs., Methods: Ten healthy subjects participated in the study and were instructed to maintain their balance as long as possible on the balance board, with or without electrotactile feedback evoked on the medial side of the heel, synched with the lateral board sway. Electrotactile feedback was given in two different modes: 1) Discrete-mode E-stim as the stimulation on/off by a predefined threshold of lateral board sway and 2) Proportional-mode E-stim as the stimulation frequency proportional to the amount of lateral board sway. All subjects were distracted from the balancing task by the n-back counting task, to test subjects' balancing capability with minimal cognitive involvement., Results: Proportional-mode E-stim, along with the n-back counting task, increased the balance time from 1.86 ± 0.03 s to 1.98 ± 0.04 s ( p  = 0.010). However, discrete-mode E-stim did not change the balance time ( p  = 0.669). Proportional-mode E-stim also increased the time duration per each swayed state ( p  = 0.035) while discrete-mode E-stim did not ( p  = 0.053)., Discussion: These results suggest that proportional-mode E-stim is more effective than discrete-mode E-stim on improving standing balance. It is perhaps because the proportional electrotactile feedback better mimics the natural tactile sensation of foot pressure than its discrete counterpart., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Raghav Hari Krishna, Kim, Chang, Choe and Park.)

The generation of clean and drinkable fresh water from seawater and contaminated water holds great potential to mitigate water scarcity. Herein, a floating spherical hydrogel evaporator (SHE) is designed to achieve sunlight-driven desalination, self-salt cleaning, and removal of environmental contaminants. The spherical lightweight polystyrene is coated with a porous carbon-embedded sodium alginate/PVA/CMC photothermal hydrogel to generate a spherical hydrogel evaporator (SHE) that floats naturally. The SHE is very sensitive to the weight imbalance (500 mg) and can respond quickly to the accumulation of salt by rotation to the fresh evaporation surface, realizing excellent antisalt fouling performance. Remarkably, with energy localization by porous carbon, the spherical floating evaporator achieved a high evaporation rate of 2.65 kg m -2 h -1 with an evaporation efficiency of 98%. At the same time, SHE is also capable of adsorbing both organic contaminants and heavy metal ions through functional groups of the hydrogel, attaining 99% removal efficiency. Overall, this low-cost spherical floating evaporator may offer solution for eco-friendly and sustainable production of fresh water on a large scale.

A total of 20 atrophic maxillary sinuses were augmented with recombinant human platelet-derived growth factor BB (rhPDGF-BB), alloplast, and bovine xenograft using a direct approach. CBCT imaging was performed at baseline, immediately postoperatively, and at 6 and 30 months postoperatively. A histologic evaluation revealed the bone bridging and bone regenerative efficacy of the graft material. Radiographic evaluation determined the ridge height (H) and volume of the graft (V) to be as 3.02 ± 1.35 mm at baseline (H0), 15.18 ± 2.52 mm (H1) and 1,106.10 ± 398.84 mm3 (V1) immediately postoperatively, 14.79 ± 2.30 mm (H2) and 1,086.95 ± 396.86 mm3 (V2) at 6 months, and 1,058 ± 391.83 mm3 (V3) at 30 months, with a significant gain in the residual ridge height at 6 months and no significant loss or gain in sinus volume postoperatively.

Animal sensory systems are tightly adapted to the demands of their environment. In the visual domain, research has shown that many species have circuits and systems that exploit statistical regularities in natural visual signals. The zebrafish is a popular model animal in visual neuroscience, but relatively little quantitative data is available about the visual properties of the aquatic habitats where zebrafish reside, as compared to terrestrial environments. Improving our understanding of the visual demands of the aquatic habitats of zebrafish can enhance the insights about sensory neuroscience yielded by this model system. We analyzed a video dataset of zebrafish habitats captured by a stationary camera and compared this dataset to videos of terrestrial scenes in the same geographic area. Our analysis of the spatiotemporal structure in these videos suggests that zebrafish habitats are characterized by low visual contrast and strong motion when compared to terrestrial environments. Similar to terrestrial environments, zebrafish habitats tended to be dominated by dark contrasts, particularly in the lower visual field. We discuss how these properties of the visual environment can inform the study of zebrafish visual behavior and neural processing and, by extension, can inform our understanding of the vertebrate brain., (© 2023. Crown.)

Isoniazid (INH) is one of the key molecules employed in the treatment of tuberculosis (TB), the most deadly infectious disease worldwide. However, the efficacy of this cornerstone drug has seriously decreased due to emerging INH-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis ( Mtb ). In the present study, we aimed to chemically tailor INH to overcome this resistance. We obtained thirteen novel compounds by linking INH to in-house synthesized sulfonate esters via a hydrazone bridge ( SIH1-SIH13 ). Following structural characterization by FTIR, 1 H NMR, 13 C NMR, and HRMS, all compounds were screened for their antitubercular activity against Mtb H37Rv strain and INH-resistant clinical isolates carrying katG and inhA mutations. Additionally, the cytotoxic effects of SIH1-SIH13 were assessed on three different healthy host cell lines; HEK293, IMR-90, and BEAS-2B. Based on the obtained data, the synthesized compounds appeared as attractive antimycobacterial drug candidates with low cytotoxicity. Moreover, the stability of the hydrazone moiety in the chemical structure of the final compounds was confirmed by using UV/Vis spectroscopy in both aqueous medium and DMSO. Subsequently, the compounds were tested for their inhibitory activities against enoyl acyl carrier protein reductase (InhA), the primary target enzyme of INH. Although most of the synthesized compounds are hosted by the InhA binding pocket, SIH1-SIH13 do not primarily show their antitubercular activities by direct InhA inhibition. Finally, in silico determination of important physicochemical parameters of the molecules showed that SIH1-SIH13 adhered to Lipinski's rule of five. Overall, our study revealed a new strategy for modifying INH to cope with the emerging drug-resistant strains of Mtb .

The recent emergence of drug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) has complicated and significantly slowed efforts to eradicate and/or reduce the worldwide incidence of life-threatening acute and chronic cases of tuberculosis. To overcome this setback, researchers have increased the intensity of their work to identify new small-molecule compounds that are expected to remain efficacious antimicrobials against Mtb. Here, we describe our effort to apply the principles of molecular hybridization to synthesize 16 compounds carrying thiophene and thiazole rings beside the core urea functionality (TTU1-TTU16). Following extensive structural characterization, the obtained compounds were initially evaluated for their antimycobacterial activity against Mtb H37Rv. Subsequently, three derivatives standing out with their anti-Mtb activity profiles and low cytotoxicity (TTU5, TTU6, and TTU12) were tested on isoniazid-resistant clinical isolates carrying katG and inhA mutations. Additionally, due to their pharmacophore similarities to the well-known InhA inhibitors, the molecules were screened for their enoyl acyl carrier protein reductase (InhA) inhibitory potentials. Molecular docking studies were performed to support the experimental enzyme inhibition data. Finally, drug-likeness of the selected compounds was established by theoretical calculations of physicochemical descriptors., (© 2022 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Molecular hybridisation of four bioactive fragments piperazine, substituted-benzofuran, amino acids, and 2,4-dinitrobenzenesulfonamide as single molecular architecture was designed. A series of new hybrids were synthesised and subjected to evaluation for their inhibitory activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis ( Mtb ) H37Rv. 4d - f and 4o found to exhibit MIC as 1.56 µg/mL, equally active as ethambutol whereas 4a, 4c, 4j displayed MIC 0.78 µg/mL were superior to ethambutol. Tested compounds demonstrated an excellent safety profile with very low toxicity, good selectivity index, and antioxidant properties. All the newly synthesised compounds were thoroughly characterised by analytical methods. The result was further supported by molecular modelling studies on the crystal structure of Mycobacterium tuberculosis enoyl reductase.

Photosynthesis involves light-harvesting complexes where an array of antenna pigment channels the absorbed solar energy to the reaction centre of a photosystem. This work reports a supramolecular dendrimer-dye assembly that mimics the natural light-harvesting mechanism. A dendrimeric molecule based on two-fluorophores has been constructed with three coumarin units at the end of three long arms and a 7-diethylaminocoumarin unit at the interior. The molecule self-aggregates in water into spherical micelles, which can encapsulate a rose-bengal dye (RB). On excitation, peripheral coumarin units shuttled the energy to the loaded RB dye reaction center via a two-step cascade resonance energy transfer (RET). The energy absorbed in the periphery is funnelled efficiently, resulting in a strong emission from the dye that resembles an energy funnel. The energy transfer cascade has been studied with both steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. Molecular dynamics simulations of the self-assembled aggregates in water were also in agreement with the experimental observations., (© 2021 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

A series of novel benzhydryl piperazine-coupled nitrobenzenesulfonamide hybrids were synthesized with good to excellent yields. They were tested for in vitro inhibition of mycobacterial activity against the Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv strain, in vitro cytotoxicity MTT (RAW 264.7cells) assay, nutrient starvation (H37Rv strain), and ability to block Cav3.2 T-type calcium channels. Novel hybrids did not inhibit T-type calcium channels, whereas they showed excellent antituberculosis (TB) activity and low cytotoxicity with a selectivity index of >30. A direct impact of the amino acid linker was not observed. Studied hybrids exhibited good inhibition activities, and the 2,4-dinitrobenzenesulfonamide group emerged as a promising scaffold for further drug design by hybridization approaches for anti-TB therapy., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

A series of 30 novel diamino phenyl chloropicolinate fettered carboxamides, urea, and thiourea derivatives were synthesized by coupling of methyl 4-amino-6-(2-aminophenyl)-3-chloropyridine-2-carboxylate with different acid chlorides, urea, and thiourea moieties, respectively. All of these compounds were characterized by 1 H and 13 C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, CHN analysis, and high-resolution mass spectra for confirmation of the structures. Two compounds were also characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis to confirm the structures obtained by spectral analysis. All these 30 compounds were tested for their in vitro antimycobacterial activity using the microplate alamar blue assay method against Mycobacterium tuberculosis . Five compounds have shown good minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values with low cytotoxicity when compared with the reference drugs. Moreover, some of the compounds have high MIC values compared with isoniazid, rifampicin, and so forth and also had shown good reign in the spread of bacteria by the nutrient starvation model. These antimycobacterial activity results have shown a good correlation with molecular docking model analysis with the inhibitors MurB by exhibiting strong interactions. Some of these compounds could be promising candidates against M. tuberculosis for future preclinical agent drug development., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

A new series of nitric oxide-donating fluoroquinolone/oximes was prepared in this study. The nitric oxide release from the prepared compounds was measured using a modified Griess colorimetric method. The antitubercular evaluation of the synthesized compounds indicated that ketone derivatives 2b and 2e and oximes 3b and 3d exhibited somewhat higher activity than their respective parent fluoroquinolones. Mycobacterial DNA cleavage studies and molecular modeling of Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA gyrase were pursued to explain the observed bioactivity. More important, antibacterial evaluation showed that oximes 3c-e are highly potent against Klebsiella pneumoniae, with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of 0.06, 0.08, and 0.034 µM, respectively, whereas ketone 2c and oxime 4c are more active against Staphylococcus aureus than ciprofloxacin (MIC values: 0.7, 0.38, and 1.6 µM, respectively). Notably, the antipseudomonal activities of compounds 2a and 4c were much higher than those of their respective parent fluoroquinolones., (© 2020 Deutsche Pharmazeutische Gesellschaft.)

In a search of new antitubercular agents, herein we have reported a series of new thirty-two indanol-1,2,3-triazole derivatives. The synthesized compounds were screened for their in vitro antitubercular and antimicrobial activities. Among the screened compounds, most of the compounds have displayed good antitubercular activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv. The compound 5g has been identified as potent antitubercular agent with MIC value 1.56 µM. The most active compounds of the series were further studied for their cytotoxicity against HEK 293 cells using MTT assay and found to be nontoxic. In addition, ten compounds were shown good antimicrobial activities against both antibacterial and antifungal pathogens. A molecular docking study against Mycobacterial enoyl-ACP-reductase (InhA) was performed to gain an insight into the molecular mechanism of antitubercular action. The pharmacokinetic parameters of these compounds were studied and displayed acceptable drug-likeness score., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A series of novel purine linked piperazine derivatives were synthesized to identify new, potent inhibitors of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The compounds were designed to target MurB disrupting the biosynthesis of the peptidoglycan and exert antiproliferative effects. The first series of purine-2,6-dione linked piperazine derivatives were synthesized using an advanced intermediate 1-(3,4-difluorobenzyl)-7-(but-2-ynyl)-3-methyl-8-(piperazin-1-yl)-1H-purine-2,6(3H,7H)-dione hydrochloride (6) which was coupled with varied carboxylic acid chloride derivatives. Following this piperazine linked derivatives were also synthesized from 6 using diverse isocyanate partners. The anti-mycobacterial activity of the analogues was tested againstMycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv which revealed a cluster of six analogues (11, 24,27, 32, 33 and34), possessed promising activity. In comparison, a set of these new compounds possessed greater potencies relative to current drugs used in the clinic such as Ethambutol. These results were also correlated with computational molecular docking analysis, providing models for strong interactions of the inhibitors with MurB providing a template for the future development of preclinical agents against Mycobacterium tuberculosis., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The development of new antimicrobial compounds is in high demand to overcome the emerging drug resistance against infectious microbial pathogens. In the present study, we carried out the extensive antimicrobial screening of disubstituted urea derivatives. In addition to the classical synthesis of urea compounds by the reaction of amines and isocyanates, we also applied a new route including bromination, oxidation and azidination reactions, respectively, to convert 2-amino-3-methylpyridine to 1,3-disubstituted urea derivatives using various amines. The evaluation of antimicrobial activities against various bacterial strains, Candida albicans as well as Mycobacterium tuberculosis resulted in the discovery of new active molecules. Among them, two compounds, which have the lowest MIC values on Pseudomonas aeruginosa, were further evaluated for their inhibition capacities of biofilm formation. In order to evaluate their potential mechanism of biofilm inhibition, these two compounds were docked into the active site of LasR, which is the transcriptional regulator of bacterial signaling mechanism known as quorum sensing. Finally, the theoretical parameters of the bioactive molecules were calculated to establish their drug-likeness properties., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Tuberculosis remains the most deadly infectious disease worldwide due to the emergence of drug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Hence, there is a great need for more efficient treatment regimens. Herein, we carried out rational molecular modifications on the chemical structure of the urea-based co-crystallized ligand of enoyl acyl carrier protein reductase (InhA) (PDB code: 5OIL). Although this compound fulfills all structural requirements to interact with InhA, it does not inhibit the enzyme effectively. With the aim of improving the inhibition value, we synthesized thiourea-based derivatives by one-pot reaction of the amines with corresponding isothiocyanates. After the structural characterization using 1 H NMR, 13 C NMR, FTIR and HRMS, the obtained compounds were initially tested for their abilities to inhibit Mycobacterium tuberculosis growth. The results revealed that some compounds exhibited promising antitubercular activity, MIC values at 0.78 and 1.56 μg/mL, combined with low cytotoxicity. Moreover, the most active compounds were tested against latent as well as dormant forms of the bacteria utilizing nutrient starvation model and Mycobacterium tuberculosis infected macrophage assay. Enzyme inhibition assay against enoyl-acyl carrier protein reductase identified InhA as the important target of some compounds. Molecular docking studies were performed to correlate InhA inhibition data with in silico results. Finally, theoretical calculations were established to predict the physicochemical properties of the most active compounds., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None of the authors declared any potential conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Context: Road traffic accidents (RTA) are a foremost rising cause of morbidity and mortality in developing countries like India. The Government of India enacted a new motor vehicle amendment act (MVA) on September 1 st 2019 that permits heavy penalties for traffic rule offenders., Aims: To find out the early impact of "THE MOTOR VEHICLES (AMENDMENT) ACT, 2019"., Settings and Design: A retrospective observational study was performed during the time period July to October 2019 on RTA patients admitted to the Trauma and Emergency department., Methods and Materials: Patients studied in two groups - One Pre MVA group ( n = 371) and one Post MVA group ( n = 415). The data were extracted from medical case records of the department and filled up in a structured format. Detailed demographic profile, including the use of safety measure and clinical variables such as the pattern of injury and injury severity scores, were recorded., Statistical Analysis Used: Statistical analysis was done by R version 3.6.1., Results: There is a 41% drop in RTA victims post MVA implementation. Polytrauma reduced (25% vs 45.5%) significantly ( P = 0.002) and so was Injury severity score (6.00 vs 13.00). More RTA victims were wearing helmets as compared to previous (42% vs 18%), and there was a steep decline in the alcohol driving (25% vs 10%) between the pre and post MVA group. A significant reduction noted in the under 18 yrs. Two-wheeler riders in the post MVA group compared to earlier ( P = 0.016)., Conclusions: The study reveals that there is a commendable reduction in the injury severity, violation of safety gears, alcohol use and rash driving following the implementation of MVA September 2019. Primary care and family physician can play a crucial role in creating public awareness about the personal safety measures, which will help in strengthening of this law to reduce the incidence of RTA and the associated mortality and morbidity., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2020 Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care.)

In the present study, we attempted to develop a novel class of compounds active against Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Pa) by exploring the pharmaceutically well exploited enzyme targets. Since, lack of Pa gyrase B crystal structures, Thermus thermophilus gyrase B in complex with novobiocin (1KIJ) was used as template to generate model structure by performing homology modeling. Further the best model was validated and used for high-throughput virtual screening, docking and dynamics simulations using the in-house database for identification of Pa DNA gyrase B inhibitors. This study led to an identification of three lead molecules with IC 50 values in range of 6.25-15.6 µM against Pa gyrase supercoiling assay. Lead-1 optimization and expansion resulted in 15 compounds. Among the synthesized compounds six compounds were shown good enzyme inhibition than Lead-1 (IC 50 6.25 µM). Compound 13 emerged as the most potential compound exhibiting inhibition of Pa gyrase supercoiling with an IC 50 of 2.2 µM; and in-vitro Pa activity with MIC of 8 µg/mL in presence of efflux pump inhibitor; hence could be further developed as novel inhibitor for Pa gyrase B., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

An efficient and eco compatible approach for the regio- and stereoselective synthesis of structurally diverse novel hybrid heterocycles comprising spiropyrrolidine, indenoquinoxaline and indole structural units in excellent yields, has been achieved through a one-pot multicomponent process involving 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition as a key step. The 1,3-dipolar component is the azomethine ylide generated in situ from indenoquinoxaline and l-tryptophan and reacts with various substituted β-nitrostyrenes affording the spiroheterocyclic hybrids. The ring system thus created possesses two C-C and three C-N bonds and four adjacent stereogenic carbons, one of which is quaternary and the reaction proceeded with full diastereomeric control. All the synthesized compounds were assayed for their in vitro activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv using MABA assay. Interestingly, the compound bearing a 2-fluoro substituent on the aryl ring displayed an equipotent activity (MIC 1.56 μg mL -1 ) to ethambutol against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

In search for new molecular entities as anti-TB agents, the benzimidazoquinazoline polyheterocyclic scaffold has been designed adopting the scaffold hopping strategy. Thirty-two compounds have been synthesized through an improved tandem decarboxylative nucleophilic addition cyclocondensation reaction of o-phenylenediamine with isatoic anhydride followed by further cyclocondensation of the intermediately formed 2-(o-aminoaryl)benzimidazole with trialkyl orthoformate/acetate. The resultant benzimidazoquinazolines were evaluated in vitro for anti-TB activity against M. tuberculosis H 37 Rv (ATCC27294 strain). Fourteen compounds exhibiting MIC values in the range of 0.4-6.25 µg/mL were subjected to cell viability test against RAW 264.7 cell lines and were found to be non-toxic (<30% inhibition at 50 µg/mL). The active compounds were further evaluated against INH resistant Mtb strains. The most active compound 6x [MIC (H37Rv) of 0.4 µg/mL] and the compound 6d [MIC (H37Rv) of 0.78 µg/mL] were also found to be active against INH resistant Mtb strain with MIC values of 12.5 and 0.78 µg/mL, respectively., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare no competing financial interest., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Based on our previous finding that the titled compound possesses anti-tuberculosis activity, a series of novel ((4-methoxyphenyl)carbamoyl) (5-(5-nitrothiophen-2-yl)-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl)amide analogues have been synthesized. Amongst the 22 compounds synthesized and tested, 5b, 5c and 6c showed potent inhibitory activity with K i values of 2.02, 5.48 and 4.72 μM for their target, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mt) ketol-acid reductoisomerase (KARI). In addition, these compounds have excellent in vitro activity against Mt H37Rv with MIC values as low as 1 μM. The mode of binding for these compounds to Mt KARI was investigated through molecular docking and dynamics simulations. Furthermore, these compounds were evaluated for their activity in Mt infected macrophages, and showed inhibitory activities with up to a 1.9-fold reduction in growth (at 10 μM concentration). They also inhibited Mt growth in a nutrient starved model by up to 2.5-fold. In addition, these compounds exhibited low toxicity against HEK 293T cell lines. Thus, these compounds are promising Mt KARI inhibitors that can be further optimized into anti-tuberculosis agents., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Herein, we report the synthesis and evaluation of pyrvinium-based antimalarial and antitubercular compounds. Pyrvinium is an FDA approved drug for the treatment of pinworm infection, and it has been reported to have antiparasitic and antimicrobial activities. Pyrvinium contains quinoline core coupled with pyrrole. We replaced the pyrrole with various aryl or heteroaryl substituents to generate pyrvinium analogs. The profiling of these compounds against malaria parasite P. falciparum 3D7 revealed analogs with better antimalarial activity than pyrvinium pamoate. Compound 14 and 16 showed IC 50 of 23 nM and 60 nM against P. falciparum 3D7, respectively. These compounds were also effective against drug-resistant malaria parasite P. falciparum Dd2 with IC 50 of 53 nM and 97 nM, respectively. The cytotoxicity against CHO-K1, HEK and NRK-49F cells revealed better selectivity index for these new analogs compared to pyrvinium. Additionally, this series of compounds showed activity against M. tuberculosis H37Rv; particularly compounds 10, 13, 14 and 16 showed equipotent antitubercular activity to that of pyrvinium pamoate. The compounds 14 and 16 should be taken forward as leads for further optimization., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

We, herein, describe the synthesis of a series of novel aryl tethered 7,8-dihydroquinolin-5(6H)-ylidenehydrazinecarbothioamides 4a-v, which showed in vitro and in vivo antimycobacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) H37Rv. The intermediates dihydro-6H-quinolin-5-ones 3a-v were synthesized from β-enaminones, reacting with cyclochexane-1,3-dione/5,5-dimethylcyclohexane-1,3-dione and ammonium acetate using a modified Bohlmann-Rahtz reaction conditions. They were further reacted with thiosemicarbazide to give the respective hydrazine carbothioamides 4a-v. All the new analogues 4a-v, were characterized by their NMR and mass spectral data analysis. Among the twenty-two compounds screened for in vitro antimycobacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv (ATCC27294), two compounds, 4e and 4j, exhibited the highest inhibition with an MIC of 0.39 µg/mL. Compounds 4a, 4g, and 4k were found to inhibit Mtb at an MIC of 0.78 µg/mL. Hydrazinecarbothioamides 4a-k, exhibited enhanced activity than dihydroquinolinones 3a-k. The observed increase in potency provides a clear evidence that hydrazinecarbothioamide is a potential pharmacophore, collectively imparting synergistic effect in enhancing antitubercular activity of the dihydroquinolinone core. The in vivo (Zebra fish) antimycobacterial screening of the in vitro active molecules led to the identification of a hit compound, 4j, with significant activity in the Mtb nutrient starvation model (2.2-fold reduction). Docking studies of 4j showed a hydrogen bond with the P156 residue of the protein., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

This paper reports the synthesis and evaluation of some benzimidazole-acrylonitrile hybrid derivatives for their in vitro antimycobacterial activities against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv. Among the derivatives studied, 3b was found to be the most active compound with MIC of 0.78 μg/mL against M. tuberculosis. This is a quite good activity compared with ethambutol (MIC = 1.56 μg/mL). Moreover, 3b showed 2.8 log fold reduction in bacterial count of dormant forms of mycobacterium which is more potent than first line drugs isoniazid, ciprofloxacin, rifampicin and moxifloxacin. Having activities against both active and dormant forms of M. tuberculosis,3b may be a useful candidate for the development of new drugs to treat tuberculosis., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Tuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is a serious infectious disease and remains a global health problem. There is an increasing need for the discovery of novel therapeutic agents for its treatment due to the emerging multi-drug resistance. Herein, we present the rational design and the synthesis of eighteen new thiadiazolylhidrazones (TDHs) which were synthesized by intramolecular oxidative N-S bond formation reaction of 2-benzylidene-N-(phenylcarbamothioyl)hydrazine-1-carboximidamide derivatives by phenyliodine(III) bis(trifluoroacetate) (PIFA) under mild conditions. The compounds were characterized by various spectral techniques including FTIR, 1 H NMR, 13 C NMR and HRMS. Furthermore, the proposed structure of TDH12 was resolved by single-crystal X-ray analysis. The compounds were evaluated for their in vitro antitubercular activity against M. tuberculosis H37Rv. Among them, some compounds exhibited remarkable antimycobacterial activity, MIC = 0.78-6.25 μg/mL, with low cytotoxicity. Additionally, the most active compounds were screened for their biological activities against M. tuberculosis in the nutrient starvation model. Enzyme inhibition assays and molecular docking studies revealed enoyl acyl carrier protein reductase (InhA) as the possible target enzyme of the compounds to show their antitubercular activities., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

This study describes synthesis and evaluation of novel 5-Chloro-2-thiophenyl-1,2,3-triazolylmethyldihydroquinolines 7a-o as dual inhibitors of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and influenza virus. Huisgen's [3+2] dipolar cycloaddition of 6-(azidomethyl)-5-chloro-2-(thiophen-2-yl)-7,8-dihydroquinoline 5 with various alkynes 6a-o using sodium ascorbate and copper sulphate gave new dihydroquinoline-1,2,3-triazoles 7a-o in good to excellent yields. The new compounds were evaluated for in vitro antimycobacterial against M. tuberculosis H37Rv (Mtb) and antiviral activity against influenza virus A/Puerto Rico/8/34 (H1N1). Among the fifteen new analogs, compounds 7a (MIC: 3.12 µg/mL), 7j and 7k (MIC: 6.25 µg/mL) were identified as potent antitubercular agents. The virus-inhibiting activity of all the fifteen compounds was found to be moderate, and among them the compound 7l, bearing thiophene moiety appeared the most active with good selectivity index (IC 50  = 19.5 µg/mL; SI = 15). The results presented here will help developing newer dual inhibitors of tuberculosis and influenza virus., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The dormant and resistant form of Mycobacterium tuberculosis presents a challenge in developing new anti-tubercular drugs. Herein, we report the synthesis and evaluation of trisubstituted thiazoles as antituberculosis agents. The SAR study has identified a requirement of hydrophobic substituent at C2, ester functionality at C4, and various groups with hydrogen bond acceptor character at C5 of thiazole scaffold. This has led to the identification of 13h and 13p as lead compounds. These compounds inhibited the dormant Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra strain and M. tuberculosis H37Rv selectively. Importantly, 13h and 13p were non-toxic to CHO cells. The 13p showed activity against multidrug-resistant tuberculosis isolates., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

A facile, highly efficient, and greener method for the synthesis of new 1,4-disubstituted-1,2,3-triazoles was conducted using [Et 3 NH][OAc] as a medium by the implementation of ultrasound irradiation via click chemistry, affording excellent yields. The present synthetic method exhibited numerous advantages such as mild reaction conditions, excellent product yields, minimal chemical waste, operational simplicity, shorter reaction time, and a wide range of substrate scope. The synthesized compounds were further evaluated for in vitro antifungal activity against five fungal strains, and some of the compounds displayed equivalent or greater potency than the standard drug. A molecular docking study against the modelled three-dimensional structure of cytochrome P450 lanosterol 14α-demethylase was also performed to understand the binding affinity and binding interactions of the enzyme. Furthermore, the synthesized compounds were evaluated for DPPH radical scavenging activity and antitubercular activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv strain., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Twenty-one novel alkyl/acyl/sulfonyl substituted fluoroquinolone derivatives were designed, synthesized and evaluated for their anti-tuberculosis and antibacterial activity. The targeted compounds were synthesized by the introduction of alkyl, acyl or sulfonyl moieties to the basic secondary amine moiety of moxifloxacin. Structures of the compounds were enlightened by FT-IR, 1 H NMR, 13 C NMR and HRMS data besides elemental analysis. Compounds were initially tested in vitro for their anti-mycobacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv using microplate alamar blue assay. Minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of all compounds were found between > 25.00-0.39 µg/mL while compounds 1, 2 and 13 revealed an outstanding activity against M. tuberculosis H37Rv with MIC values of 0.39 µg/mL. Activities of compounds 1-21 against to a number of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and fast growing mycobacterium strain were also investigated by agar well diffusion and microdilution methods. According to antimicrobial activity results, compound 13 was found the most potent derivative with a IC 50 value of <1.23 μg/mL against Staphylococcus aureus and clinical strain of methicillin-resistant clinical strain of S. aureus., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The aim of the study is to design and synthesis of a new series of potent anti-TB 1,2,4-triazol-1-yl-pyrazole based spirooxindolopyrrolizidines with their safety profile. A synergetic effect of ultrasonication and ionic liquid was shown successfully as a green methodology for the synthesis of title compounds 6a-t. These derivatives were obtained in shorter reaction time with good yields and well characterized by various spectroscopic methods, single-crystal X-ray diffraction (6f). The in vitro anti-tuberculosis activity for newly-synthesized derivatives has been screened against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Among all, six compounds 6e, 6k, 6l, 6n, 6q and 6r exhibited equal potent activity compared to standard drug ethambutol (MIC: 1.56 µg/mL) and another compound 6h exhibited outstanding activity (MIC: 0.78 µg/mL) than the standard drug ethambutol. Cytotoxic nature of the anti-TB active compounds was evaluated against RAW 264.7 cells. The 6h, 6e, 6k, 6l, 6n, 6q and 6r exhibited lower toxicity which could be promising hits for anti-tuberculosis., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

A series of 1-(1-benzyl-2-methyl-5-((1-phenyl-1H-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)methoxy)-1H-indol-3-yl)ethanone and ethyl 1-benzyl-2-methyl-5-((1-phenyl-1H-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)methoxy)-1H-indole-3-carboxylate derivatives were designed based on bioisosteric replacement of previously reported antitubercular agent (IND-07). Twenty ligands were successfully synthesized and some of them were found to have good in vitro activity (MIC < 10 μM) against the H 37 Rv strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Among these compounds, KC-08 and KC-11 inhibited Mtb-DHFR with 4- and 18-fold selectivity for Mtb-DHFR over h-DHFR, respectively. Compound KC-11 display acceptable ADME, and better pharmacokinetic profiles than IND-07. Docking studies were performed to predict the binding mode of the compounds within the active site of Mtb-DHFR and h-DHFR. The results of our study suggest that compound KC-11 may serve as a valuable lead for the design and development of selective inhibitors of Mtb-DHFR with potential therapeutic application in tuberculosis., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major threat to human health. This due to the fact that current drug treatments are less than optimal and the increasing occurrence of multi drug-resistant strains of etiological agent, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mt). Given the wide-spread significance of this disease, we have undertaken a design and evaluation program to discover new anti-TB drug leads. Here, we focused on ketol-acid reductoisomerase (KARI), the second enzyme in the branched-chain amino acid biosynthesis pathway. Importantly, this enzyme is present in bacteria but not in humans, making it an attractive proposition for drug discovery. In the present work, we used molecular docking to identify seventeen potential inhibitors of KARI using an in-house database. Compounds were selected based on docking scores, which were assigned as the result of favourable interactions between the compound and the active site of KARI. The inhibitory constant values for two leads, compounds 14 and 16 are 3.71 and 3.06 µM respectively. To assess the mode of binding, 100 ns molecular dynamics simulations for these two compounds in association with Mt KARI were performed and showed that the complex was stable with an average root mean square deviation of less than 3.5 Å for all atoms. Furthermore, compound 16 showed a minimum inhibitory concentration of 2.06 ± 0.91 µM and a 1.9 fold logarithmic reduction in the growth of Mt in an infected macrophage model. The two compounds exhibited low toxicity against RAW 264.7 cell lines. Thus, both compounds are promising candidates for development as an anti-TB drug leads.

Aim: In recent times, heterocyclic chemotypes are being explored for the development of new antimycobacterials that target the drug-resistant tuberculosis. Here, we are disclosing the 5-substitued 2-mercapto-1,3,4-oxadiazoles as potent antitubercular agents., Methodology: A small library of 2-mercapto-1,3,4-oxadiazoles was synthesized using various acids. The compounds were evaluated for antituberculosis activity against M. tuberculosis H37Rv., Results: Compound 8j was identified as antitubercular lead with MIC of 0.6 μg/ml against M. tuberculosis H37Rv. This compound was nontoxic to CHO-K1 cells and showed selectivity index of 39. Of note, 8j showed antitubercular activity against pre-extensively drug-resistant clinical isolate of Mycobacterium with MIC of 2 μg/ml., Conclusion: This study provides potent antitubercular agent which can be further optimized to discover novel antibiotics.

A series of novel morpholine, thiomorpholine and N-substituted piperazine coupled 2-(thiophen-2-yl)dihydroquinolines 7a-p was designed and synthesized from 2-acetyl thiophene in six step reaction sequence involving modified Bohlmann-Rahtz and Vilsmeier-Haack-Arnold reactions as key transformations. 2-(Thiophen-2-yl)dihydroquinoline was formylated and subsequently chlorinated using DMF-POCl 3 . The resulting aldehyde was reduced to give an alcohol and then converted to bromide using PBr 3. Further coupling of bromide with morpholine, thiomorpholine and N-substituted piperazines resulted in the desired quinolines 7a-p in very good yields. All the new derivatives 7a-p were characterized by their NMR and mass spectral analysis. In vitro screening of new compounds for antimycobacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv (MTB), resulted in two derivatives 7f and 7p as most potent antitubercular agents (MIC:1.56 μg/mL) with lower cytotoxicity profiles., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

A series of novel substituted 1,2,3-triazolyldihydroquinolines 6a-o was designed and synthesized from 2-acetylthiophene in five-step reaction sequence involving modified Boltzmann-Rahtz reaction of β-Enaminone; Vilsmeier-Haack chloroformylation using DMF/POCl 3 ; Ohira-Bestmann homologation of aldehyde to alkyne as key steps. The reaction of alkyne 4 with various aryl azides in the presence of copper sulfate and sodium ascorbate resulted desired new 1,2,3-triazolyldihydroquinolines 6a-o in excellent yields. In vitro screening of new compounds for anti-mycobacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv (Mtb), resulted in three derivatives 6a (MIC:1.56 µg/mL) and 6d, 6l (MIC:3.12 µg/mL) as promising antitubercular agents with lower cytotoxicity profiles., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The development of an effective antitubercular agent is a challenge due to the complex nature of tuberculosis. Herein, we report the synthesis and evaluation of α-aminoacyl amides as antitubercular agents. The systematic medicinal chemistry approach led to identification of optimal substitutions required for the activity. Compound 11l was identified as antitubercular lead with drug like properties. Further, 11l selectively inhibited M. tuberculosis H37Rv with MIC value of 0.78 μM and was found to be non-toxic to CHOK1 cells. The lead compound inhibited multidrug resistant and Pre-Extensively drug resistant strains of Mycobacterium at 2 μg/mL and 8 μg/mL respectively., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Aim: A series of coumarin derivatives was designed as potential antituberculosis agents., Results: The compounds were screened against active and dormant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). Compounds 3k and 3n were found to have the most promising activity against replicating MtbH37Rv exhibiting minimum inhibitory concentration of 4.63 and 9.75 μM respectively. The compounds were also effective against dormant MtbH37Rv exhibiting more potency than the standard drugs, isoniazid and rifampicin. The compounds were found to be non-cytotoxic against human cell lines., Conclusion: This study provides promising antituberculosis agents that are effective against replicating as well as dormant Mtb and can thus act as potential leads for further development.

Sodium trifluoromethanesulfonate, and glacial acetic acid selectively catalyzed the synthesis of dihydroquinoline via Friedländer annulation. The synthesized dihydroquinoline analogues coupled with different amines by the use of coupling reagent gave dihydroquinoline carboxamide derivatives in moderate to good yields. All the synthesized novel compounds were evaluated for the anti-tubercular activity and cytotoxic activities in vitro. Among tested 30 compounds, two compounds, 8g and 8h showed MIC value of 0.39 and 0.78 μg/mL, respectively against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv and they were found to be non-toxic. Also these two compounds exhibited good pharmacological properties and oral absorption when studied using in-silico models., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

A novel series of furan/thiophene carbohydrazides and carboxamides were synthesized and evaluated for anti-TB and cytotoxic activities. All the synthesized compounds were characterized using 1 H and 13 C NMR and mass spectral techniques. Among the 23 compounds tested for anti-tubercular activity, seven compounds (3e, 3g, 3h, 9b, 9c, 9e and 9h) showed minimum inhibitory concentration value less than 1 μg/mL against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv and they were found to be non-toxic. Molecular docking and dynamics simulation studies of these compounds with an enzyme enoyl ACP reductase revealed the probable mechanism of action, which is similar to isoniazid. Further, all these tested compounds exhibited good absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion and drug-likeness in-silico and thus may be considered as potential leads for further drug development., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Excess adiposity in obese inhibits negatively impacts immune function and host defence. Obesity is characterized by a state of low-grade, chronic inflammation in addition to disturbed levels of circulating nutrients and metabolic hormones. The impact of metabolic abnormalities on obesity-related co-morbidities has undergone intense scrutiny over the past decades. Thus, treatment of obesity and its associated immune-mediated diseases is challenging due to impaired function of leptin system. These disorders are managed through antibiotics and by cytokines replacement. However, the effectiveness of cytokines coupled to the complexity of the cytokine network leads to severe side-effects, which can still occur after careful preclinical evaluation. In addition, synthetic immunotherapeutics carry a degree of risk, time-consuming and expensive. Hence, the complexity of existing therapy and adverse effects emphasizes the need for an alternative approach for the management of immune dysfunction associated with obesity. Computer-aided small molecule antibody technology has been successful in the design of novel biologicals for the diagnosis of diseases and therapeutic interventions. In this study, the crystal structure of leptin receptor (LEPR) complex with monoclonal antibody (9F8 Fab) was explored to predict Ag-Ab interactions using bioinformatics tools. The LEPR of complementarity-determining region (CDR) loops were mutated with published positive control residues of Ser, Thr, Tyr, Trp, and Phe to design a set of 678 peptides which were evaluated through Ag-peptide docking, binding free-energies, and interaction energies. Thus, hypothesized novel peptides can be explored as clinically applicable antagonists for the treatment of obesity and associated immune-mediated diseases., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

A facile and convenient approach has been designed for the synthesis of novel prototypes that possess the advantage of the two pharmacophores of chromene and 1,2,3-triazole in a single molecular backbone, were evaluated against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv strain. The new analogues 1,2,3-triazole-fused spirochromenes were accomplished in four step synthetic strategy utilizing click chemistry ([3 + 2] Huisgen cycloaddition) in the ultimate step. The synthesized compounds were established based on the spectral data and X-ray crystal structure for 7a. Among the compounds tested against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv strain, some products exhibited potent antimycobacterial activity with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values ranging from 1.56 to 6.25 μg mL -1 . Compounds exhibiting good in vitro potency in the MTB MIC assay were further examined for cytotoxicity in a RAW 264.7 cells. Compounds 7a, 7d, 7i (MIC: 1.56 μg mL -1 ) and 7k, 7m (MIC: 3.125 μg mL -1 ) exhibited promising hits., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)