Biological activity of 1,2,3-triazole-2-amino-1,4-naphthoquinone derivatives and their evaluation as therapeutic strategy for malaria control

Malaria can be caused by several Plasmodium species and the development of an effective vaccine is challenging. Currently, the most effective tool to control the disease is the administration of specific chemotherapy; however, resistance to the frontline antimalarials is one of the major problems in malaria control and thus the development of new drugs becomes urgent. The study presented here sought to evaluate the antimalarial activities of compounds derived from 2-amino-1,4-naphthoquinones containing 1,2,3-triazole using in vivo and in vitro models. 1H-1,2,3-Triazole 2-amino-1,4-naphthoquinone derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for antimalarial activity in vitro, using P. falciparum W2 chloroquine (CQ) resistant strain and in vivo using the murine-P. berghei ANKA strain. Acute toxicity was determined as established by the OECD (2001). Cytotoxicity was evaluated against HepG2 and Vero mammalian cell lines. Transmission electron microscopy of the Plasmodium falciparum trophozoite (early and late stages) was used to evaluate the action of compounds derived at ultra-structural level. The compounds displayed low cytotoxicity CC₅₀ > 100 μM, neither did they cause hemolysis at the tested doses and nor the signs of toxicity in the in vivo acute toxicity test. Among the five compounds tested, one showed IC₅₀ values in submicromolar range of 0.8 μM. Compounds 7, 8 and 11 showed IC₅₀ values < 5 μM, and selectivity index (SI) ranging from 6.8 to 343 for HepG2, and from 13.7 to 494.8 for Vero cells. Compounds 8 and 11 were partially active against P. berghei induced parasitemia in vivo. Analysis of the ultrastructural changes associated with the treatment of these two compounds, showed trophozoites with completely degraded cytoplasm, loss of membrane integrity, organelles in the decomposition stage and possible food vacuole deterioration. Our results indicated that compounds 8 and 11 may be considered hit molecules for antimalarial drug discovery platform and deserve further optimization studies.