Synthesis of new ibuprofen hybrid conjugates as potential anti-inflammatory and analgesic agents

Abstract

Background: A new set of hybrid conjugates derived from 2-(4-isobutylphenyl)propanoic acid (ibuprofen) is synthesized to overcome the drawbacks of the current non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Results & methodology: Synthesized conjugates were screened for their anti-inflammatory, analgesic and ulcerogenic properties. Few conjugates were found to have significant anti-inflammatory properties in the carrageenan-induced rat paw edema test, while a fair number of conjugates showed promising peripheral analgesic activity in the acetic acid-induced writhing test as well as central analgesic properties in the in vivo hot plate technique. The newly synthesized conjugates did not display any ulcerogenic liability. Conclusion:In vitro, COX-1 and COX-2 enzyme inhibition studies raveled compound 7e is more selective toward COX-2 compared with ibuprofen.

Keywords: NSAIDs; acetaminophen; analgesic; anti-inflammatory; cyclooxygenase; molecular modeling.