In the present study, some novel amino acids incorporated bicyclo compounds have been synthesized and their structure was confirmed by physico-chemical and spectral data. The title compounds were evaluated for in silico toxicity study and anticonvulsant activity by maximal electric shock method. The results showed that substitution with cysteine and glutamic acid moiety was found to increase the activity. In silico toxicity study results showed that the compounds are free of toxicity in neurotoxicity, irritability, sensitivity, immunotoxicity and oncogenecity Key words: Maximal electrical shock method, anticonvulsant activity, in silico toxicity.
INTRODUCTIONEpilepsy is a common disorder of the central nervous system (CNS). Conventional antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) are widely prescribed but induce a range of side effects specially neuro toxicity. Furthermore, there is a significant group of patients (20-30%) resistant to the currently available therapeutic agents (Ho et al., 2001). Although the current drugs provide adequate seizure control in many patients, it is roughly estimated that up to 28-30% of patients are poorly treated with the available antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). Moreover, many AEDs have serious side effects and lifelong medication may be required (Craig, 1997). Hence, with all of these factors in mind, it has been suggested that the focus of epilepsy research should be directed to identifying the underlying mechanism of epileptogenesis and the subsequent "expression" of seizure activity, rather than resorting primarily to symptom control, that is, mere suppression of seizures (McNamara, 2001) (Rajdan et al., 1987) but still no one has reported/studied, such compounds as anticonvulsants. The reason to incorporate biologically friendly amino acids into pharmacologically active moiety is not only to minimize the side effects of the metabolites of the parent compound upon metabolism in the body but also to direct the drug for specific site and in order to enhance the hydrophilicity of the synthesized candidates, like bicyclo compounds may exhibit potent anticonvulsant activity. In the same context, our objective of the study was to synthesize such compounds and to further evaluate these synthesized candidates, like bicyclo compounds that may exhibit potent anticonvulsant activity with lesser neurotoxicity. The toxicity of a molecule is highly dependent upon its structural elements. Exogenous chemicals entering a living system can undergo a number of chemical modifications by a wide array of enzymes, which use these chemicals as substrates. Rarely does a compound simply produce a single metabolite, in general, complex metabolic pattern of competitive and sequential reactions occur. Computer aided toxicity prediction provides help to anyone who would like to gain a deeper insight in to the field of metabolism and toxicity, including medicinal chemists looking for quick information on the expected metabolic fate and toxicity of compounds still in the bottleneck stage of clinical trials (Moorthy et a...