Bioactivity Focus of α-Cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid (CHCA) Leads to Effective Multifunctional Aldose Reductase Inhibitors

Bioactivity focus on α-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid (CHCA) scaffold results in a small library of novel multifunctional aldose reductase (ALR2) inhibitors. All the entities displayed good to excellent inhibition with IC(50) 72–405 nM. (R,E)-N-(3-(2-acetamido-3-(benzyloxy)propanamido)propyl)-2-cyano-3-(4-hydroxy phenyl)acrylamide (5f) was confirmed as the most active inhibitor (IC(50) 72.7 ± 1.6 nM), and the best antioxidant. 5f bound to ALR2 with new mode without affecting the aldehyde reductase (ALR1) activity, implicating high selectivity to ALR2. 5f was demonstrated as both an effective ALR2 inhibitor (ARI) and antioxidant in a chick embryo model of hyperglycemia. It attenuated hyperglycemia-induced incidence of neural tube defects (NTD) and death rate, and significantly improved the body weight and morphology of the embryos. 5f restored the expression of paired box type 3 transcription factor (Pax3), and reduced the hyperglycemia-induced increase of ALR2 activity, sorbitol accumulation, and the generation of ROS and MDA to normal levels. All the evidences support that 5f may be a potential agent to treat diabetic complications.