Synthesis and In Vitro Anti-Toxoplasma gondii Activity of Novel Thiazolidin-4-one Derivatives

Recent findings on the biological activity of thiazolidin-4-ones and taking into account the lack of effective drugs used in the treatment of toxoplasmosis, their numerous side effects, as well as the problem of drug resistance of parasites prompted us to look for new agents. We designed and synthesized a series of new thiazolidin-4-one derivatives through a two-step reaction between 4-substituted thiosemicarbazides with hydroxybenzaldehydes followed by the treatment with ethyl bromoacetate; maleic anhydride and dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate afforded target compounds. The thiazolidin-4-one derivatives were used to assess the inhibition of Toxoplasma gondii growth in vitro. All active thiazolidine-4-one derivatives (12 compounds) inhibited T. gondii proliferation in vitro much better than used references drugs both sulfadiazine as well as the synergistic effect of sulfadiazine + trimethoprim (weight ratio 5:1). Most active among them derivatives 94 and 95 showed inhibition of proliferation at about 392-fold better than sulfadiazine and 18-fold better than sulfadiazine with trimethoprim. All active compounds (82–88 and 91–95) against T. gondii represent values from 1.75 to 15.86 (CC(30)/IC(50)) lower than no cytotoxic value (CC(30)).