Synthesis of chlorinated flavonoids with anti-inflammatory and pro-apoptotic activities in human neutrophils

•We synthesized novel chlorinated flavonoids.•Chlorinated flavonoids modulate neutrophils' oxidative burst and apoptosis.•The tested compounds induced neutrophils' apoptosis via caspase 3 activation.•Chlorinated flavonoids constitute an alternative anti-inflammatory therapy.

Neutrophils are considered the central cells of acute inflammation. Flavonoids have been suggested as therapeutic agents to avoid damages induced by inflammatory processes. It is well known the reactivity of flavonoids with hypochlorous acid produced by neutrophils, to form stable mono and dichlorinated products. In this study, we synthesized novel chlorinated flavonoids and investigated their effect in neutrophils' oxidative burst and in its lifespan, in comparison with the parent non-chlorinated flavonoids. The obtained results demonstrate that chlorinated flavonoids were more efficient than their parent compounds in modulating neutrophils' oxidative burst in phorbol myristate acetate-activated neutrophils. Some of the tested flavonoids drive neutrophil apoptosis in a caspase 3-dependent fashion. The present data showed that 8-chloro-3′,4′,5,7-tetrahydroxyflavone (4a) constitute an alternative anti-inflammatory therapy, due to the proven ability to suppress mechanisms engaged at the onset and progression of inflammation.

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