Microbial transformation of the anti-inflammatory steroid medrysone (1) was carried out for the first time with the filamentous fungi Cunninghamella blakesleeana (ATCC 8688a), Neurospora crassa (ATCC 18419), and Rhizopus stolonifer (TSY 0471). The objective was to evaluate the anti-inflammatory potential of the substrate (1) and its metabolites. This yielded seven new metabolites, 14α-hydroxy-6α-methylpregn-4-ene-3,11,20-trione (2), 6β-hydroxy-6α-methylpregn-4-ene-3,11,20-trione (3), 15β-hydroxy-6α-methylpregn-4-ene-3,11,20-trione (4), 6β,17α-dihydroxy-6α-methylpregn-4-ene-3,11,20-trione (5), 6β,20S-dihydroxy-6α-methylpregn-4-ene-3,11-dione (6), 11β,16β-dihydroxy-6α-methylpregn-4-ene-3,11-dione (7), and 15β,20R-dihydroxy-6α-methylpregn-4-ene-3,11-dione (8). Single-crystal X-ray diffraction technique unambiguously established the structures of the metabolites 2, 4, 6, and 8. Fungal transformation of 1 yielded oxidation at the C-6β, -11β, -14α, -15β, -16β positions. Various cellular anti-inflammatory assays, including inhibition of phagocyte oxidative burst, T-cell proliferation, and cytokine were performed. Among all the tested compounds, metabolite 6 (IC50 = 30.3 μg/mL) moderately inhibited the reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced from zymosan-induced human whole blood cells. Compounds 1, 4, 5, 7, and 8 strongly inhibited the proliferation of T-cells with IC50 values between <0.2-10.4 μg/mL. Compound 7 was found to be the most potent inhibitor (IC50 < 0.2 μg/mL), whereas compounds 2, 3, and 6 showed moderate levels of inhibition (IC50 = 14.6-20.0 μg/mL). Compounds 1, and 7 also inhibited the production of pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-α. All these compounds were found to be non-toxic to 3T3 cells (mouse fibroblast), and also showed no activity when tested against HeLa (human epithelial carcinoma), or against PC3 (prostate cancer) cancer cell lines.
PloS one. 2016 Apr 22*** epublish ***
Saira Bano, Atia-Tul- Wahab, Sammer Yousuf, Almas Jabeen, Mohammad Ahmed Mesaik, Atta-Ur- Rahman, M Iqbal Choudhary
H. E. J. Research Institute of Chemistry, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi, Karachi, 75270, Pakistan., Dr. Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi, Karachi, 75270, Pakistan., H. E. J. Research Institute of Chemistry, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi, Karachi, 75270, Pakistan., Dr. Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi, Karachi, 75270, Pakistan., Tabuk Medical College, University of Tabuk, Tabuk, 71491, Saudi Arabia., H. E. J. Research Institute of Chemistry, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi, Karachi, 75270, Pakistan., H. E. J. Research Institute of Chemistry, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi, Karachi, 75270, Pakistan.