Antinociceptive activity of thymoquinone and its structural analogues: A structure-activity relationship study.

• Autor(a) principal: SOUSA, Damião Pergentino de.
• Data de Publicação: 2012
• Outros Autores: NÓBREGA, Franklin Ferreira de Farias., SANTOS, Camila Carolina de Menezes Santos., BENEDITO, Rubens Batista., VIEIRA, Ygor Willian., ULIANA, Marciana Pierina., BROCKSON, Timothy John., ALMEIDA, Reinaldo Nóbrega de.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações da UFCG
• Texto Completo: http://dspace.sti.ufcg.edu.br:8080/jspui/handle/riufcg/37239
• topic: Quinones; Antinociceptive activity; Analgesic; Central nervous system; Structure-activity relationship; Medicinal plant; Quinonas; Atividade antinociceptiva; Analgésica; Sistema nervoso central; Planta medicinal; Farmácia.; Química.

Purpose: To investigate the structural features that influence the antinociceptive activity of thymoquinone and their structural analogues. Methods: The quinones were prepared by an oxidation procedure using molecular oxygen and catalysis with [CoII(salen)] from the respective phenols. The antinociceptive activity of para-benzoquinones (10 mg/kg, ip) was evaluated using formalin test in mice. Vehicle (5 % Tween 80) or morphine (10 mg/kg) were used as control group and standard drug, respectively. The amount of time spent licking the injected paw was considered as the nociceptive response. Results: Among the compounds tested, five para-benzoquinones showed antinociceptive activity. The 2-isopropyl-para-benzoquinone presented the highest potency in first and second phases and produced a near-maximal inhibition (p < 0.001) in the formalin test, similar to morphine (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Our experimental results show that by appropriate structural modification of parabenzoquinones it may be possible to develop novel analgesic drugs.