Pancreatic β-cell dysfunction and death are important feature of diabetes mellitus. Beta-cell protection has demonstrated clinical benefits in the treatment of this disease. In the present study, andrographolide derivatives with nitric oxide (NO)-releasing capability were synthesized and their protective effects against tert-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BHP) induced cell damage were investigated in RIN-m cells. Compound 6b was found to release a moderate amount of NO and was more potent than its natural parent andrographolide in inhibiting cell apoptosis. These findings suggested that andrographolide derivatives with NO-releasing capacity may be a potential therapy for diabetes.Key words andrographolide; synthesis; nitric oxide (NO) donor; β cell protection Andrographolide ( Fig. 1), the main bioactive component of the medicinal plant Andrographis paniculata, has a variety of biological activities including anti-inflammation, 1) anti-bacteria, 2-4) anti-malaria, 5) hepatoprotection, 6,7) immunomodulation, 8) and anti-cancer. 9,10) In addition, previous studies showed that andrographolide lowered blood glucose levels and possessed anti-diabetic properties.11) It was reported that the anti-diabetic effects of andrographolide were attributed to its anti-inflammation and hypoglycemic effects.12) It has been documented that andrographolide attenuated inflammation primarily through inhibition of the nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) signalling pathway. 13,14) Jin et al. reported that andrographolide inhibited tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) induced insulin resistance and improved insulin sensitivity through inhibition of the NF-κB pathway. 15) In an effort to find more effective therapies for diabetes, we have recently synthesized numerous andrographolide derivatives, investigated their antidiabetic activities and their potential mechanisms of action. 16) Nitric oxide (NO) is a small, diffusible and highly reactive molecule with many important biological and physiological functions. The role NO plays in insulin secretion has been controversial. 17) Although excessive NO production within β-cells may trigger oxidative/nitrosative stress leading to cell death, NO also served as an important β-cell stimulus-secretion coupling factor. [18][19][20] Evidence suggested that exogenous NO and endogenous glucose-stimulated β-cell NO augmented insulin release. 21) In addition, studies had demonstrated that NO stimulated insulin secretion by stimulating calcium release from mitochondria. 22) A recent report also suggested that low levels of NO protected β-cells from thapsigargin-induced apoptosis.
23)Building on our previous discovery that andrographolide and its lipoic acid conjugate AL-1 (Fig. 1) significantly protected β-cells in diabetic rats and the finding that NO offered protection to β-cells, we wanted to know if andrographolide derivatives bearing NO-donating moieties could release NO to offer additional protective effects to β-cells.2) We herein reported synthesis of several novel andrographolide derivatives with NO-releasin...