Synthesis and Anti-hypoxic Activity Research of Daidzein Derivatives

To search for safe and efficient anti-hypoxia active molecules, 27 derivatives were synthesized by introducing aminoalkyl groups at daidzein's position-7 and position-8. The structures of these derivatives were confirmed by ¹H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR, and mass spectrometry. The anti-hypoxia activity was evaluated in vitro using a cell hypoxia model established with the AnaeroPack-anaero. The results showed that 9 compounds significantly enhanced cell viability under hypoxic conditions, with compounds 2a, 2b, 4d, 5a, and 5d exhibiting in vitro anti-hypoxia activity significantly superior to daidzein. And the drug-like properties prediction results of the target compounds indicated that compounds 2a, 2b, 4d, 5a, and 5d may also demonstrate favorable pharmacokinetic properties. Further, the anti-hypoxia activity in vivo of these 5 derivatives were evaluated via normobaric hypoxia and hypobaric hypoxia models. The results indicated that all of the 5 compounds extended the survival time of mice under normobaric hypoxia to varying degrees, and they also alleviated oxidative stress damage to the brain and heart of mice under hypobaric hypoxia. Among these, compound 2a demonstrated superior anti-hypoxia activity both in vitro and in vivo compared to daidzein, making it worthy of further study as a potential candidate for an anti-hypoxia drug.