Medicinal chemistry of N-acylhydrazones: new lead-compounds of analgesic, antiinflammatory and antithrombotic drugs.

In this article we provide an overview on the medicinal chemistry of new bioactive N-acylhydrazone (NAH) derivatives designed through the structural optimization of N-arylhydrazone precursors, originally planned by molecular hybridization of two known 5-lipoxygenase inhibitors, i.e. CBS-1108 and BW-755c. The analgesic, antiedematogenic and platelet anti-aggregating profile of several isosteric NAH compounds was investigated by using classical in vivo and ex-vivo pharmacological assays, which allowed the identification of new potent centrally and peripherically-acting analgesic leads, new antiinflammatory agents and new antithrombotic prototypes. During this study, dozens of active NAH compounds were discovered, clarifying the structure-activity relationships for this series of derivatives and indicating the pharmacophoric character of the N-acylhydrazone moiety for its biological profile.