New 1,2,4-triazole based eugenol derivatives as antiCOX-2 and anticancer agents

Due to chronic inflammation, elevated cyclooxygenase (COX-2) level leads to tumorigenesis, proliferation, invasion, angiogenesis and metastasis. Therefore, suppression of COX-2 enzyme is a fascinating approach in cancer treatment. In the present study, natural product eugenol was modified to develop new 1,2,4-triazole derivatives as antiCOX-2 and antiproliferative agents. The structures of newly prepared derivatives were established using sophisticated analytical techniques. The antiproliferative result showed compound 10 to be equipotent to doxorubicin towards MDA-MB 231 and PC-3 cancer cells with IC50 1.42 and 5.69 μM, respectively and potent COX-2 inhibitor with IC50 0.28 μM. Compound 10 was also non carcinogenic, non mutagenic with good drug likeness property as depicted by in silico physicochemical and pharmacokinetic studies. The docking results against COX-2 protein showed highest binding energy for compound 10 which was found to be in consistent with the cytoxicity and COX-2 results. In conclusion, compound 10 could harness COX-2 and cell proliferation and could be a promising candidate in cancer therapy.