Design, synthesis, biological evaluation, and molecular docking of chalcone derivatives as anti-inflammatory agents

In this study, two series of 35 new chalcone derivatives containing aryl-piperazine or aryl-sulfonyl-piperazine fragment were synthesized and their structures were characterized by H-1, C-13 and ESI-MS. The in vivo and in vitro anti-inflammatory activities of target compounds were evaluated by using classical para-xylene-induced mice ear-swelling model and ELISA assays. Furthermore, docking studies were performed in COX-2 (4PH9). The in vivo anti-inflammatory assays indicated that most of the target compounds showed significant anti-inflammatory activities. Docking results revealed that the anti-inflammatory activities of compounds correlated with their docking results. Especially, compound 6o exhibited the most potent anti-inflammatory activity in vivo with the lowest docking score of -17.4 kcal/mol and could significantly inhibit the release of LPS-induced IL-6 and TNF-alpha in a dose-dependent manner in vitro. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.