Evaluation of N-benzoylthiourea derivatives as possible analgesic agents by predicting their physicochemical and pharmacokinetic properties, toxicity, and analgesic activity

Abstract

This study aimed to predict the physicochemical properties, pharmacokinetic properties (ADME), toxicity, and analgesic activity of 30 compounds of N-benzoylthiourea derivatives that are potential analgesic drugs. One of the mechanisms of action of N-benzoylthiourea derivatives is the inhibition of the cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) isoenzyme. An in silico test was performed by docking a compound that would predict its activity with the target COX-2 isoenzyme, PDB ID: 1PXX, using the MVD (Molegro Virtual Docker) program. The result of the docking was a form of energy bond indicated by the value of the rerank score (RS), where compounds that had lower RS values were predicted to have a higher activity. The pkCSM and Protox online tools were used to predict various physicochemical properties. Based on the RS values, the N-benzoylthiourea derivatives can be predicted to have lower analgesic activity than diclofenac, the reference ligand. Three of the N-benzoylthiourea derivatives—N-(2,4-bis-trifluoromethyl)-benzoylthiourea, N-(3,5-bis-trifluoromethyl)benzoylthiourea, and N-(3-trifluoromethoxy)-benzoylthiourea—had RS values of -90.82, -94.73, and -92.76,  respectively, suggesting that these compounds were predicted to have analgesic activity relatively similar to diclofenac (RS value = -95.16). Furthermore, the majority of the  N-benzoylthiourea derivatives were predicted to have good pharmacokinetic properties (ADME), and cause relatively low toxicity.