Avaliação da ação antimalárica de compostos sintéticos derivados de quinolina em cultura de Plasmodium falciparum

Abstract

The difficulties found in adapting, implementing and maintaining control strategies in malaria endemic regions are largely responsible for the spread of this disease, which is considered one of the greatest scourges of mankind. In this context, there is a widespread development of plasmodia resistance to various compounds that have been or are still used in antimalarial therapy, making effective treatment of the cases a constant challenge. Therefore, there is an unquestionable need for discovery of new molecules that may, in the near future, be available for inclusion in effective medicines for the cure of the infection. This study investigated the antiplasmodial activity of 10 synthetic molecules (derived from quinoline) in cultured P. falciparum, and their cytotoxic activity against HeLa cells and peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Of the 10 molecules tested, 5 are combined to sulfonamides, while the others have in their structure a hydrazine group. Regardless of the grouping pharmacophore integrated into the quinoline ring, all the molecules tested were not cytotoxic to HeLa cells or human lymphocytes, at low concentrations. Concerning the antimalarial activity, 60% of the molecules were highly active against P. falciparum (CI50 ranging from <0.195 µg / ml to 3.12 µg / mL) and 10% totally inactive (CI50 > 50μg/mL). By analyzing the selectivity index of molecules, only two compounds were not selective for the parasite (RMP103 and RMP107). Among the more selective molecules, the highlights were those linked to the hydrazine group, especially RMP105 which was >1800 times more selective for plasmodium compared to the reference drug. Therefore, due to their high antimalarial activity and low toxicity in human cells, with a high selectivity for Plasmodium, the molecules tested in these studies can be considered good alternatives to become antimalarial drugs and assist effectively in combating the disease.