Design, synthesis and evaluation of ursodeoxycholic acid-cinnamic acid hybrids as potential anti-inflammatory agents by inhibiting Akt/NF-κB and MAPK signaling pathways

A series of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA)-cinnamic acid hybrids were designed and synthesized. The anti-inflammatory activity of these derivatives was screened through evaluating their inhibitory effects of LPS-induced nitric oxide production in RAW264.7 macrophages. The preliminary structure-activity relationship was concluded. Among them, 2m showed the best inhibitory activity against NO (IC50 = 7.70 μM) with no significant toxicity. Further study revealed that 2m significantly decreased the levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 and PGE2, down-regulated the expression of iNOS and COX-2. Preliminary mechanism study indicated that the anti-inflammatory activity of 2m was related to the inhibition of the Akt/NF-κB and MAPK signaling pathway. Furthermore, 2m reduced inflammation by a mouse model of LPS-induced inflammatory disease in vivo. In brief, our findings indicated that 2m might serve as a new lead compound for further development of anti-inflammatory agents.