Tetrahydrocurcumin (THC) is a major metabolite of curcumin and plays an important role in curcumin-induced biological effects. THC is a promising preventive and chemotherapeutic agent for cancer. A series of new pyrazole derivatives of THC have been synthesized as potent anticancer agents. Direct condensation of THC with various substituted hydrazines leads to new pyrazole derivatives of THC (1-18). The prepared compounds have been evaluated via in vitro MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay for their cell proliferation-inhibitory activity against human lung adenocarcinoma (A549), human cervical carcinoma (HeLa) and human breast carcinoma (MCF-7) cells. Most derivatives show significantly higher anticancer activity against all three tested cancer cell lines than the parent compound THC. Several compounds (7, 8, 12, 13 and 15) display promising anticancer activity against MCF-7 cell line with IC50 values ranging from 5.8 to 9.3 µM. The most active compound (8) is substituted with 4-bromophenyl group at the pyrazole ring and inhibits the growth of all three tested cancer cell lines with an IC50 values of (8.0 µM, A549), (9.8 µM, HeLa) and (5.8 µM, MCF-7). The obtained compounds can be a good starting point for the development of new lead molecules in the fight against cancer.
Keywords: Anticancer agents; Condensation; Drug discovery; Pyrazole; Tetrahydrocurcumin.