Novel carbazole aminoalcohols as inhibitors of β-hematin formation: Antiplasmodial and antischistosomal activities

•Carbazole aminoalcohol was confirmed as a novel antiplasmodial and antischistosomal scaffold.•The mechanism of action relied on β-hematin formation inhibition.•The carbazole aminoalcohols interacted with hematin through forming a 1:1 complex.•Compound 7 showed potent antiplasmodial ability (Pf3D7 IC50 = 0.248 μM, PfDd2 IC50 = 0.091 μM).•In vitro antischistosomal effect of 7 meets the WHO's criterion of “hit” for schistosomiasis control.

Malaria and schistosomiasis are two of the most socioeconomically devastating parasitic diseases in tropical and subtropical countries. Since current chemotherapeutic options are limited and defective, there is an urgent need to develop novel antiplasmodials and antischistosomals. Hemozoin is a disposal product formed from the hemoglobin digestion by some blood-feeding parasites. Hemozoin formation is an essential process for the parasites to detoxify free heme, which is a reliable therapeutic target for identifying novel antiparasitic agents. A series of novel carbazole aminoalcohols were designed and synthesized as potential antiplasmodial and antischistosomal agents, and several compounds showed potent in vitro activities against Plasmodium falciparum 3D7 and Dd2 strains and adult and juvenile Schistosoma japonicum. Investigations on the dual antiparasitic mechanisms showed the correlation between inhibitory activity of β-hematin formation and antiparasitic activity. Inhibiting hemozoin formation was identified as one of the mechanisms of action of carbazole aminoalcohols. Compound 7 displayed potent antiplasmodial (Pf3D7 IC50 = 0.248 μM, PfDd2 IC50 = 0.091 μM) and antischistosomal activities (100% mortality of adult and juvenile schistosomes at 5 and 10 μg/mL, respectively) and exhibited low cytotoxicity (CC50 = 7.931 μM), which could be considered as a promising lead for further investigation. Stoichiometry determination and molecular docking studies were also performed to explain the mode of action of compound 7.

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