• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.652-656
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• 2005

A number of thioflavones has been synthesized and evaluated for their iNOS inhibitory activities. Thiowogonin (6) was obtained from naturally occurring chrysin in 5 steps. Other thioflavones were prepared from the corresponding flavones in a single step by the reaction with Lawesson's reagent. The biological activities of thioflavones were not enhanced by the functional group conversion from carbonyl to thiocarbonyl. Compounds 11 and 13 showed potent. NO inhibitory activity at high concentration (40 uM), leading to the possible development of novel neuroprotective agents based on wogonin.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.216-219
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• 2005

Wogonin (5,7-dihydroxy-8-methoxyflavone) has been reported to exhibit a variety of biological properties including anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective functions. In this study, biological activities of diverse synthetic wogonin derivatives have been evaluated in two experimental cell culture models. Inhibitory activities of wogonin derivatives on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric oxide (NO) production in BV2 microglial cells and on hydrogen peroxide ($H_{2}O_2$)-induced neuronal cell death in SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma were examined. Wogonin derivatives such as WS2 and WS3 showed more potent suppressive activities on LPS-induced NO production and $H_{2}O_2$-induced cytotoxicity than wogonin itself. In addition, thiol substitution played a minor role in enhancing the activities of the derivatives. These findings may contribute to the development of novel anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective agents derived from wogonin.