New Lead Structures in the Isoxazole System: Relationship Between Quantum Chemical Parameters and Immunological Activity

Potential immunological activities of three compounds: RM54 and its two derivatives RM55 and RM56, were evaluated in several, selected in vitro and in vivo tests such as: mitogen-induced lymphocyte proliferation, cytokine production, the humoral immune response in vitro and carrageenan test. Leflunomide served as a reference drug. The studied compounds showed differential, generally immunosuppressive properties. RM56 exhibited stronger suppressive activities as compared to RM54 and RM55. In particular, RM56 displayed the strongest activity in suppression of the carrageenan inflammation that was correlated with strong suppression of the humoral immune response in vitro and lymphocyte proliferation. Density Functional Theory (DFT) was employed to shed a light on molecular properties of the investigated compounds. The geometrical parameters of the studied molecular structures were fully optimized at the B3LYP/6-311G(d,p) level. The atomic charges distribution derived on the base of the Mulliken population analysis was correlated with immunological activity of RM54, RM55 and RM56. The obtained relationships show that the isoxazole ring plays an important role in the observed immunological activities. We also suggest that due to strong anti-inflammatory and anti-proliferative properties of RM-56, potential therapeutic applications of this derivative can be broad.