In silico study and in vitro antileishmanial and antitrypanosomal evaluation of azopyrazoles and azopyrimidines

Hydrazones 1-6, azo-pyrazoles 7-9 and azo-pyrimidines 10-15 are compounds that exhibit antibacterial activity. The mode of action and structures of these derivatives have been previously confirmed as antibacterial. In this investigation, biological screening and molecular docking studies were performed for derivatives 1-15, with compounds 2, 7, 8, 14 and 15 yielding the best energy scores (from -20.7986 to -10.5302 kcal/mol). Drug-likeness and in silico ADME prediction for the most potent derivatives, 2, 7, 8, 14 and 15, were predicted (from 84.46 to 96.85%). The latter compounds showed good recorded physicochemical properties and pharmacokinetics. Compound 8 demonstrated the strongest inhibition, which was similar to the positive control (eflornithine) against Trypanosoma brucei brucei (WT), with an EC₅₀ of 25.12 and 22.52µM, respectively. Moreover, compound 14 exhibited the best activity against Leishmania mexicana promastigotes and Leishmania major promastigotes (EC₅₀ =46.85; 40.78µM, respectively).