New Quinolone-Based Thiosemicarbazones Showing Activity Against Plasmodium falciparum and Mycobacterium tuberculosis

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2019-05, Vol.24 (9), p.1740
• Main Authors: Beteck, Richard M, Seldon, Ronnett, Jordaan, Audrey, Warner, Digby F, Hoppe, Heinrich C, Laming, Dustin, Khanye, Setshaba D
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Co-infections; Cytotoxicity; Disease; HIV; Human immunodeficiency virus; Immune system; Infections; Malaria; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; Plasmodium falciparum; quinolones; thiosemicarbazones; Tuberculosis; Vector-borne diseases
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules24091740

Co-infection of malaria and tuberculosis, although not thoroughly investigated, has been noted. With the increasing prevalence of tuberculosis in the African region, wherein malaria is endemic, it is intuitive to suggest that the probability of co-infection with these diseases is likely to increase. To avoid the issue of drug-drug interactions when managing co-infections, it is imperative to investigate new molecules with dual activities against the causal agents of these diseases. To this effect, a small library of quinolone-thiosemicarbazones was synthesised and evaluated in vitro against and , the causal agents of malaria and tuberculosis, respectively. The compounds were also evaluated against HeLa cells for overt cytotoxicity. Most compounds in this series exhibited activities against both organisms, with compound , emerging as the hit; with an MIC of 2 µM against H37Rv strain of and an IC of 1 µM against the 3D7 strain of . This study highlights quinolone-thiosemicarabazones as a class of compounds that can be exploited further in search of novel, safe agents with potent activities against both the causal agents of malaria and tuberculosis.