Improved anticancer and antiparasitic activity of new lawsone Mannich bases

Abstract

Substituted lawsone Mannich bases 2a–e, 3a–e and 4a–e were prepared and tested for their biological activities. The new fatty alkyl substituted compounds 2a–c exhibited strong and selective growth inhibitory activities in the low one-digit micromolar and sub-micromolar range against a panel of human cancer cell lines associated with ROS formation. In addition, compounds 2a–c revealed sub-micromolar anti-trypanosomal activities against parasitic Trypanosoma brucei brucei cells via deformation of the microtubule cytoskeleton. The N-hexadecyl compound 2c was also highly active against locally isolated Entamoeba histolytica parasite samples exceeding the activity of metronidazole.