Novel 3,4-dihydroquinolin-2(1H)-one derivatives as dual inhibitor targeting AKR1B1/ROS for treatment of diabetic complications: Design, synthesis and biological evaluation.

AKR1B1 (Aldose reductase) has been used as therapeutic intervention target for treatment of diabetic complications over 50 years, and more recently for inflammation and cancer. However, most developed small molecule inhibitors have the defect of low bioactivity. To address this limitation, novel series of 3,4-dihydroquinolin-2(1H)-one derivatives as dual inhibitor targeting AKR1B1/ROS (Reactive Oxygen Species) were designed and synthesized. Most of these derivatives were found to be potent and selective against AKR1B1, and compound 8a was the most active with an IC50 value of 0.035 μM. Moreover, some prepared derivatives showed strong anti-ROS activity, and among them the phenolic 3,5-dihydroxyl compound 8b was proved to be the most potent, even comparable to that of the well-known antioxidant Trolox at a concentration of 100 μM. Thus the results suggested a success in the construction of potent dual inhibitor for the therapeutic intervention target of AKR1B1/ROS.