Investigation of indole functionalized pyrazoles and oxadiazoles as anti-inflammatory agents: Synthesis, in-vivo, in-vitro and in-silico analysis

Abstract

There are several potential side and adverse effects are found to be associated with the anti-inflammatory drugs in clinical practice. The long-term use of these clinical agents highly unsafe. It encouraged the development of novel heterocyclic compounds with potential anti-inflammatory activity and low to no toxicity. In present investigation, a total of 12 indole functionalized pyrazole and oxadiazole derivatives were designed, synthesized and evaluated for the in-vivo anti-inflammatory and analgesic potential. These compounds displayed comparable anti-inflammatory and analgesic potential to the reference drugs. Finally, molecular docking analysis was performed considering different anti-inflammatory targets to determine the mechanistic target of the designed molecules. Detailed analysis suggested that the molecules inhibit COX-2, preferably over other anti-inflammatory targets. The results suggested that two compounds (15c and 15f) were found promising candidates for the development of novel anti-inflammatory agents.