Hydrazide-Bridged Pyridazines for Cholinesterase Inhibitors: Synthesis, Characterizations, In Silico, and In Vitro Evaluation

In this study, we investigate the inhibitory potential of a series of hydrazide derivatives bearing different substituents with the pyridazine structure (5 a–i and 6 a–f) against acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) using a modified Ellman's method. The inhibitory profiles of the synthesized compounds were assessed by comparing their IC50 and Ki values. Our results demonstrate that all the compounds exhibit significant inhibitory activity against both AChE and BChE when compared to the reference compound, tacrine. Particularly, compound 6 a exhibited the highest activity against Electrophorus electricus AChE (EeAChE) with a Ki value of 3.26 nM, while compound 5 a displayed the most potent inhibition against equine BChE (eqBChE) with a Ki value of 0.94 nM. The compounds did not possess significant cytotoxicity action using the MTT assay on the cancer cell lines. The DPPH assays revealed that all the compounds have moderate antioxidant activities. Furthermore, molecular docking studies provided valuable insights into the interaction mechanisms of these compounds within the active sites of AChE and BChE crystal structures (PDB ID: 4EY7 and 4BDS, respectively). The above results indicated that the pyridazine-based compounds were a promising functional agent for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. © 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.