Pioglitazone is a Food and Drug Administration-approved thiazolidinedione (TZD) derivative and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) agonist and used for the treatment of diabetes mellitus (DM). However, this drug is still associated with many adverse effects. In the present study, four new Schiff bases of pioglitazone (P1–P4) were synthesized and characterized using FTIR, 1 HNMR, 13 CNMR, mass spectrometry, and elemental analysis. For preliminary screening, the in vitro 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay and in vitro alpha-amylase antidiabetic inhibitory assay were performed. Further, P3 was used to investigate in vivo antioxidant and in vivo antidiabetic effects in a streptozotocin–nicotinamide-induced diabetic rat model. Diabetic rats were administered with an i.p dose of pioglitazone 10 mg/kg body weight for 21 days. Moreover, biochemical parameters and antioxidants were quantified from liver and kidney tissues of rodents. In the DPPH assay, compound P3 showed superior antioxidant effects. Using the in vitro α-amylase inhibitory assay, P3 exhibited potent effects as compared to other groups, that is, 93% inhibition, while pioglitazone showed 81% inhibition. Enzymatic and nonenzymatic antioxidants showed significant changes in P3 (10 mg/kg)-treated groups ( p < 0.001). Similarly, compound P3 produced significant and better results in comparison to pioglitazone in the rodent model. This study confirmed potent antidiabetic and superior antioxidant potential of the newly synthesized Schiff base (P3), which could ultimately account for insulin sensitization and for cellular protection and hence provide a potential clue for dual therapeutics.

Purpose: The triazole nucleus is an important part of the therapeutically interesting drug candidate as antimicrobial, analgesic, anticancer, anticonvulsant and anti-inflammatory agents. Methods: Therefore, in this study, twelve 4,5-disubstituted-1,2,4-triazole-3-thiols were synthesized by the reaction of substituted isothiocyanates and hydrazides using the common method of base catalysed intramolecular dehydrative cyclization of substituted thiosemicarbazides 3(a-f) and 4(a-f). The structures of these compounds were characterized by means of FT-IR, 1 H-NMR, and elemental analysis data. All these compounds were screened for antibacterial, antioxidant, antitumor and cytotoxic activities. Results: Among these compounds: 5c, 5f and 6f were found active against gram positive cocci, the compounds 5a, 5b, 5d, 6a and 6f showed 85% free radical scavenging effect at 3 ppm when tested for antioxidant activity, 75% tumors inhibition was recorded using 5c, 5d and 6a and brine shrimps lethality assay declared 5a, 5b and 6d was 129.62 µg/ml, 161.577 µg/ml and 81.56 µg/ml respectively. Conclusion: Compounds carrying significant bioactivity can be further studied using animal models to establish their safety profile prior to initiating clinical trials.

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The length of the telomeres is maintained with the help of the enzyme telomerase constituting of two components, namely, a core reverse transcriptase protein (hTERT) and RNA (hTR). It serves as a significant and universal cancer target. In silico approaches play a crucial role in accelerating drug development processes, especially cancer drug repurposing is an attractive approach. The current study is aimed at the repurposing of FDA-approved drugs for their potential role as hTERT inhibitors. Accordingly, a library of 2,915 sets of FDA-approved drugs was generated from the ZINC database in order to screen for novel hTERT inhibitors; later on, these were subjected to molecular docking analysis. The top two hits, ZINC03784182 and ZINC01530694, were shortlisted for molecular dynamic simulation studies at 100 ns based on their binding scores. The RMSD, RMSF, Rg, SASA, and interaction energies were calculated for a 100-ns simulation period. The hit compounds were also analyzed for antitumor activity, and the results revealed promising cytotoxic activities of these compounds. The study has revealed the potential application of these drugs as antitumor agents that can be useful in treating cancer and can serve as lead compounds for further in vivo, in vitro, and clinical studies.