Synthesis, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) activities, and molecular docking studies of a novel compound based on combination of flurbiprofen and isoniazide

RSC Adv. 2020 May 20;10(33):19346-19352. doi: 10.1039/d0ra02339f.

Abstract

Synthesis of a compound with balanced bioactivities against a specific target is always a challenging task. In this study, a novel compound (1) has been synthesized by combination of flurbiprofen and isoniazide and shows ∼2.5 times enhanced acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibition activity and ∼1.7 times improved butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) inhibition activity compared to flurbiprofen and a standard drug (i.e. physostigmine). A comparative AutoDock study has been performed, based on the optimized structure, by the DFT/B3LYP method, which confirmed that compound (1) is more active against AChE and BuChE, with calculated binding energies of -12.9 kcal mol-1 and -9.8 kcal mol-1 respectively as compared to flurbiprofen and an eserine (physostigmine) standard for which the binding energy was calculated to be -10.1 kcal mol-1 and -8.9 kcal mol-1, respectively. A mixed mode of inhibition of AChE and BuChE with compound 1 was confirmed by Lineweaver-Burk plots. AChE and BuChE inhibition activity alongside docking results suggests that compound (1) could be used for treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Moreover, compound (1) also exhibit better α-chymotrypsin activity compared to flurbiprofen. Furthermore, in vitro and in vivo analysis confirmed that compound (1) exhibit more activity and less toxicity than the parent compounds.