Isoniazid-N-acylhydrazones as promising compounds for the anti-tuberculosis treatment

Tuberculosis (TB), a disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, still presents significant numbers of incidence and mortality, in addition to several cases of drug resistance. Resistance, especially to isoniazid, which is one of the main drugs used in the treatment, has increased. In this context, N-acylhydrazones derived from isoniazid have shown important anti-Mycobacterium tuberculosis activity. Hence, this work aimed to determine the anti-TB potential of 11 isoniazid-N-acylhydrazones (INH-acylhydrazones). For this purpose, the determination of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) against M. tuberculosis H₃₇Rv and clinical isolates was carried out. Drug combination, minimum bactericidal concentration, cytotoxicity, and in silico parameters were also performed. INH-acylhydrazones (2), (8), and (9) had MIC for M. tuberculosis H₃₇Rv similar to or lower than isoniazid, and bactericidal activity was observed. In addition, these compounds showed low cytotoxicity, with a selectivity index greater than 3,000. Interesting results were also obtained in the drug combination assay, with synergistic combinations with isoniazid, ethambutol, and rifampicin. In the in silico study, INH-acylhydrazones behaved similarly to INH, but with improvements in some aspects. Based on these findings, it is concluded that compounds (2), (8), and (9) are considered promising scaffolds and warrant further investigation for designing future antimicrobial drugs.