Abstract:
In order to search for new anti-inflammatory agents with strong activity and less toxicity relative to CDDO-Me, the ester prodrugs
2 -
8 of CDDO-Me were synthesized by treatment of oleanolic acid(OA)with DMF/K
2CO
3 to generate
1 , followed by esterification of
1 with various aliphatic and aromatic carboxylic acids, respectively. All the target compounds showed strong inhibitory effects on LPS-induced NO production in RAW 264. 7 cells. Among them, compounds
2 and
7 possessed the most potent inhibitory effects with IC
50=(2. 34±0. 67)and(3. 83±0. 97)nmol/L, respectively. Moreover, MTT assay indicated that all the target compounds(
2 -
8 )displayed much weaker anti-proliferative activity against RAW 264. 7 cell lines than CDDO-Me, suggesting that they may be less toxic than CDDO-Me.