Promising Α-glucosidase Inhibitors Research Articles

Synthesis of the chromone-thiosemicarbazone scaffold as promising α-glucosidase inhibitors: An in vitro and in silico approach toward antidiabetic drug design.

Diabetes is a serious metabolic disorder affecting individuals of all age groups and prevails globally due to the failure of previous treatments. This study aims to address the most prevalent form of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) by reporting on the design, synthesis, and in vitro as well as in silico evaluation of chromone-based thiosemicarbazones as potential α-glucosidase inhibitors. In vitro experiments showed that the tested compounds were significantly more potent than the standard acarbose, with the lead compound 3n exhibiting an IC50 value of 0.40 ± 0.02 μM, ~2183-fold higher than acarbose having an IC50 of 873.34 ± 1.67 μM. A kinetic mechanism analysis demonstrated that compound 3n exhibited reversible inhibition of α-glucosidase. To gain deeper insights, in silico molecular docking, pharmacokinetics, and molecular dynamics simulations were conducted for the investigation of the interactions, orientation, stability, and conformation of the synthesized compounds within the active pocket of α-glucosidase.

Deciphering Molecular Aspects of Potential α-Glucosidase Inhibitors within Aspergillus terreus: A Computational Odyssey of Molecular Docking-Coupled Dynamics Simulations and Pharmacokinetic Profiling.

Hyperglycemia, as a hallmark of the metabolic malady diabetes mellitus, has been an overwhelming healthcare burden owing to its high rates of comorbidity and mortality, as well as prospective complications affecting different body organs. Available therapeutic agents, with α-glucosidase inhibitors as one of their cornerstone arsenal, control stages of broad glycemia while showing definitive characteristics related to their low clinical efficiency and off-target complications. This has propelled the academia and industrial section into discovering novel and safer candidates. Herein, we provided a thorough computational exploration of identifying candidates from the marine-derived Aspergillus terreus isolates. Combined structural- and ligand-based approaches using a chemical library of 275 metabolites were adopted for pinpointing promising α-glucosidase inhibitors, as well as providing guiding insights for further lead optimization and development. Structure-based virtual screening through escalating precision molecular docking protocol at the α-glucosidase canonical pocket identified 11 promising top-docked hits, with several being superior to the market drug reference, acarbose. Comprehensive ligand-based investigations of these hits' pharmacokinetics ADME profiles, physiochemical characterizations, and obedience to the gold standard Lipinski's rule of five, as well as toxicity and mutagenicity profiling, proceeded. Under explicit conditions, a molecular dynamics simulation identified the top-stable metabolites: butyrolactone VI (SK-44), aspulvinone E (SK-55), butyrolactone I 4''''-sulfate (SK-72), and terrelumamide B (SK-173). They depicted the highest free binding energies and steadiest thermodynamic behavior. Moreover, great structural insights have been revealed, including the advent of an aromatic scaffold-based interaction for ligand-target complex stability. The significance of introducing balanced hydrophobic/polar moieties, like triazole and other bioisosteres of carboxylic acid, has been highlighted across docking, ADME/Tox profiling, and molecular dynamics studies for maximizing binding interactions while assuring safety and optimal pharmacokinetics for targeting the intestinal-localized α-glucosidase enzyme. Overall, this study provided valuable starting points for developing new α-glucosidase inhibitors based on nature-derived unique scaffolds, as well as guidance for prospective lead optimization and development within future pre-clinical and clinical investigations.

In vitro evaluation of novel mefenamic acid derivatives as potential α-glucosidase and urease inhibitors: Design, synthesis, in silico and cytotoxic studies

This study aim to synthesize new 1,3,4-oxadiazole derivatives incorporating mefenamic acid as promising α-glucosidase and urease inhibitors, potentially leading to the treatment of postprandial hyperglycemia as well as H. pylori related disorders. In this regards, we have designed a series of Mefenamic acid derivatives. The synthetic compounds were structurally elucidated through 1H NMR, 13C NMR and HR-EIMS analysis. The biological evaluation of these derivatives against α-glucosidase and urease enzyme depicted some novel derivatives with potent inhibition against the said enzymes. All the derivatives exhibited potent inhibition against α-glucosidase enzymes with IC50 ranging from 25.81 ± 1.63–113.61 ± 1.31 µM against standard drug acarbose (IC50 = 375.82 ± 1.76 µM) while with respect to urease these derivatives possessed inhibitory potential varied between IC50 = 8.04 ± 1.01–58.18 ± 1.03 µM against the standard thiourea (IC50 = 21.0 ± 1.76 µM). The cell viability results revealed that all of the derivatives were found least cytotoxic. Furthermore, molecular docking studies of the most potent derivatives identify number of key features involved in binding interactions between potential inhibitors and the enzyme's active site.

Synthesis of N-Substituted Iminosugar C-Glycosides and Evaluation as Promising α-Glucosidase Inhibitors.

A series of N-substituted iminosugar C-glycosides were synthesized and tested for α-glucosidase inhibition. The results suggested that 6e is a promising and potent α-glucosidase inhibitor. Enzymatic kinetic assays indicated that compound 6e may be classified as an uncompetitive inhibitor. The study of structure-activity relationships of those iminosugars provided a starting point for the discovery of new α-glucosidase inhibitors.

Molecular Docking Reveals Phytoconstituents of the Methanol Extract from Muntingia calabura as Promising α-Glucosidase Inhibitors

Inhibition of α-glucosidase has been used as a management of type 2 diabetes mellitus, where studies are focused on finding more efficacious and safe drugs. Herein, the research aimed to unveil the potential of phytoconstituents contained in methanol extract of Muntingia calabura leaves in inhibiting α-glucosidase through molecular docking simulation. From a systematic search (Scopus), we found 5 eligible articles and identified 28 phytocompounds. Fisetin, pinostrobin, and rhamnetin identified in M. calabura extract were predicted to have good bioavailability. Finally, fisetin was revealed as the most potential α-glucosidase inhibitor candidate with a binding affinity of -7.5 kcal/mol.

Oleanolic acid indole derivatives as novel α-glucosidase inhibitors: Synthesis, biological evaluation, and mechanistic analysis

Research efforts have been directed to the development of oleanolic acid (OA) based α-glucosidase inhibitors and various OA derivatives showed improved anti-α-glucosidase activity. However, the inhibitory effects of indole infused OA derivatives on α-glucosidase is unknown. Herein, we synthesized a series of indole-OA (2a-2o) and -OA methyl ester (3a-3 l) derivatives with various electron withdrawing groups inducted to indole benzene ring and evaluated their anti-α-glucosidase activity. Indole OA derivatives (2a-2o) exhibited superior α-glucosidase inhibitory effects as compared to OA methyl ester derivatives (3a-3l) and OA (with IC50 values of 4.02 μM-5.30 μM v.s. over 10 μM and 5.52 µM, respectively). In addition, mechanistic studies using biochemical (kinetic assay), biophysical (circular dichroism), and computational (docking) methods revealed that OA-indole derivatives (2a and 2f) are mixed type of α-glucosidase inhibitors and their inhibitory effects were attributed to their capacity of forming the ligand-enzyme complex with α-glucosidase enzyme. Findings from this study support that OA indole derivatives are promising α-glucosidase inhibitors as a potential management of diabetes mellitus.

2-(2-Phenylethyl)chromone derivatives: Promising α-glucosidase inhibitors in agarwood from Aquilaria filaria

Twelve undescribed 2-(2-phenylethyl)chromone derivatives, including one pair of enantiomers, together with eleven known ones, were isolated from the EtOAc extract of agarwood originating from Aquilaria filaria. All structures were elucidated by spectroscopic (NMR, UV, IR, MS) methods and compared with reported data in literatures. Twenty-one compounds were assessed for α-glucosidase inhibitory activity, which showed inhibition of α-glucosidase with IC50 values ranging between 7.8 ± 0.3 to 137.7 ± 3.0 μM (Acarbose, 743.4 ± 3.3 μM; Genistein, 8.3 ± 0.1 μM). Our results expanded the structural diversity of 2-(2-phenylethyl)chromones from agarwood, and revealed the potential of 2-(2-phenylethyl)chromones as α-glucosidase inhibitors.

Conventional and Non-Conventional Targets of Natural Products in the Management of Diabetes Mellitus and Associated Complications.

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a severe endocrine metabolic disease coupled with various long-term complications. A plethora of targets have been identified, however, with possible adverse effects. Therefore, researchers are in the perpetual quest for safe and more effective therapeutics. Natural products, particularly derived from plants, have proven to exert anti-diabetic effects via diverse mechanisms. An overview of DM pathogenesis and its associated micro- and macro-vascular complications is presented. Possible underlying mechanisms of herbal remedies in DM management are provided, highlighting some key therapeutic targets. The review also appraises the recent progress of herbal products in treating DM through regulating inflammation and gut microbiota. Finally, currently available pharmacological treatments are discussed. The results show that numerous plants have proven to be promising sources of insulin secreting agents, α-glucosidase and α-amylase inhibitors. Among the non- conventional targets, inhibition of key enzymes such as lipase, cholinesterases and angiotensin converting enzyme has been directly and/or indirectly linked to DM and DM complications. For instance, hypericin, pseudohypericin and I3,II8-biapigenin isolated from Hypericum perforatum L., and palmatine and columbamine isolated from Dichocarpum auriculatum (Franch.) W. T. Wang & P. K have been found to be powerful lipase and cholinesterase inhibitors, respectively. Moreover, a number of plant-derived compounds such as feruloylated oligosaccharides from maize bran, baicalein and berberine are reported to mediate anti-diabetic property via modulation of gut microbiota. The information amassed in this review is anticipated to provide useful scientific baseline information to support advanced research in natural antidiabetic drug development.

In silico study reveals existing drugs as α-glucosidase inhibitors: Structure-based virtual screening validated by experimental investigation

Drug repositioning is a popular method of making drug discovery less costly and more efficient. Computational methods such as pharmacophore-based virtual screening, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have been widely utilized to make the process of finding drugs more efficient and accurate. In this study, “in silico repositioning” was performed to identify promising α-glucosidase inhibitors among existing drugs. Based on molecular dynamics simulations analysis of 3TOP-acarbose and 6C9X-voglibose complexes, we built structure-based pharmacophore models, and then we screened FDA-approved drugs with good pharmacophore-fit scores. Subsequently, we performed a molecular docking study to understand the binding modes of α-glucosidase and virtual screening hits. We chose three hits to assess the stability of the protein-hit interactions in physiological conditions using molecular dynamics simulations. We calculated the binding free energy using the molecular mechanics generalized born surface area (MM-GBSA) method. We also performed toxicity prediction of the three hits to analyze their potential toxicities, and found that they were relatively safe. Finally, α-glucosidase inhibitory activity assays of the three hits in vitro revealed that benserazide exhibited inhibitory effects towards α-glucosidase, confirming the computational results. In summary, we identified a method for further research on the “in silico repositioning” of existing drugs that may affect a specific molecular target.

Palladium-Catalyzed Cascade Synthesis of Novel Quinolone- Bis(indolyl)methane Hybrids as Promising α-Glucosidase Inhibitors

An unexpected cascade reaction is developed for the construction of functionalized 3-bis(indol-3-yl)methylquinoline-2(1H)-ones. Three C–C bonds and one ring are created in one pot triggered by Pd-catalyzed C-3 alkenylation of indole with 2-acyl-N-acrylaniline derivatives. A series of complex and specific quinoline-2(1H)-ones were produced, most of them showed significant α-glucosidase inhibitory activities.

Exploration of aroyl/heteroaroyl iminothiazolines featuring 2,4,5-trichlorophenyl moiety as a new class of potent, selective, and in vitro efficacious glucosidase inhibitors

A series of iminothiazolines (4a–j) featuring 2,4,5-trichlorophenyl moiety and aroyl/heteroaroyl substituents has been prepared from readily accessible thioureas. In-vitro screening against glucosidase enzymes showed highly specific inhibition of α-glucosidase with a marked dependence of the potency upon the nature of the aroyl/heteroaroyl substituents. The most potent representatives, bearing ortho-tolyl and bulky naphthyl groups displayed the highest inhibitory potential with IC50 value of 0.15±0.01µM compared to standard drug acarbose (IC50=38.2±0.12µM). Several other derivatives (4c, 4d, 4i and 4j) were also significantly powerful and selective inhibitors of α-glucosidase. Binding interactions of potent compounds 4b, 4c, 4h and 4i with α-glucosidase were explored by molecular docking simulation. These results clearly identified a new class of structural leads which can be further investigated for the development of promising α-glucosidase inhibitors for the prevention of diabetes mellitus.

Design and Synthesis of New Benzimidazole and Pyrimidine Derivatives as α-glucosidase Inhibitor.

In an endeavor to find a novel series of antihyperglycemic agents, new benzimidazole and pyrimidine derivatives were successfully synthesized efficiently in high yield with high purity, starting from amino acids in the presence of phosphorus oxychloride (POCl3). The synthesized compounds were identified by (1)H-NMR, (13)C-NMR, FT-IR spectroscopic techniques and elemental analysis. All products were assayed for their inhibitory effects on yeast and rat intestinal α-glucosidases. The results revealed that compounds with aromatic amino acids moiety showed significant inhibition activity on the tested enzymes. Among the benzimidazole derivatives 4c and 4d exhibited the best activity against both of the tested enzymes. Also, among the pyrimidine derivatives 5c and 5d possessed significant inhibition action on the enzymes. The IC50 values for the most potent benzimidazole yeast and intestinal α-glucosidases inhibitor (4d) were found to be 9.1 and 36.7 µM, respectively. The IC50 values for the inhibition of yeast and intestinal α-glucosidases by the most active pyrimidine compound (5d) were calculated to be 8.3 and 21.8 µM, respectively. Overall, this study proved that benzimidazole and pyrimidine derivatives with aromatic amino acids moieties can represent novel promising α-glucosidase inhibitors.