Synthesis and pharmacological evaluation of antiinflammatory mutual amide prodrugs

Nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs have been widely used for the management of inflammation, pain and nociception. Gastric intolerance caused by most of the nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs used today restricts their use. Several approaches have been proposed to modify the parent nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs molecule in order to reduce their gastric toxicity. Oral prodrug approach is one of such approaches. In the present work three nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs viz. ibuprofen, diclofenac, and flurbiprofen were conjugated with sulfonamides like sulphamethoxazole and sulphanilamide via amide bond using dicyclohexylcarbodiimide coupling reaction. The synthesized prodrugs were screened for their analgesic and antiinflammatory activity using Eddy's hot plate, acetic acid-induced writhing and carrageenan-induced rat paw edema method, respectively. These prodrugs were also evaluated for their ulcerogenic potential. All synthesized prodrugs were found to be less ulcerogenic than their parent nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs and showed better activity profile in terms of analgesic and antiinflammatory activity as compared to their respective parent drugs.