Antitrypanosomal activities of acetylated bruceines A and C; a structure-activity relationship study.

Ahmed Elkhateeb, Yusuke Tosa, Hideyuki Matsuura, Kensuke Nabeta, Ken Katakura

Laboratory of Parasitology, Department of Disease Control, Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0818, Japan.

Journal of natural medicines 2012 Jan

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The crude extract of Brucea javanica showed strong in vitro inhibitory activity against Trypanosoma evansi. Among the isolated quassinoids, bruceines A, C, and bruceantinol were found to be the most potent compounds against T. evansi. To gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between the free hydroxyl groups and the activity, several O-acetylated derivatives of bruceines A and C were synthesized and their in vitro antitrypanosomal activities against trypomastigotes of T. evansi were examined and compared with those of the original compounds. The following structure-activity relationships were observed: (1) the free hydroxyl groups at positions C-3, C-11, and C-12 are essential for antitrypanosomal activity; (2) the C-11 and C-12 hydroxyl groups are more important for the activity than the enolic hydroxyl group at C-3, and; (3) the free hydroxyl group at C-4' of bruceine C does not have any significant effect on the activity.

Citation

Ahmed Elkhateeb, Yusuke Tosa, Hideyuki Matsuura, Kensuke Nabeta, Ken Katakura. Antitrypanosomal activities of acetylated bruceines A and C; a structure-activity relationship study. Journal of natural medicines. 2012 Jan;66(1):233-40