The dynamics of Brazilian protozoology over the past century

Brazilian scientists have been contributing to the protozoology field for more than 100 years with important discoveries of new species such as Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania spp. In this work, we used a Brazilian thesis database (Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel) covering the period from 1987-2011 to identify researchers who contributed substantially to protozoology. We selected 248 advisors by filtering to obtain researchers who supervised at least 10 theses. Based on a computational analysis of the thesis databases, we found students who were supervised by these scientists. A computational procedure was developed to determine the advisors’ scientific ancestors using the Lattes Platform. These analyses provided a list of 1,997 researchers who were inspected through Lattes CV examination and allowed the identification of the pioneers of Brazilian protozoology. Moreover, we investigated the areas in which researchers who earned PhDs in protozoology are now working. We found that 68.4% of them are still in protozoology, while 16.7% have migrated to other fields. We observed that support for protozoology by national or international agencies is clearly correlated with the increase of scientists in the field. Finally, we described the academic genealogy of Brazilian protozoology by formalising the “forest” of Brazilian scientists involved in the study of protozoa and their vectors over the past century.

Synthesis and antibacterial study of some s-substituted aliphatic analogues of 2-mercapto-5-(1-(4-toluenesulfonyl) piperidin-4-yl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole

Purpose: To synthesize a series of analogues of 1,3,4-oxadiazole and to evaluate their antibacterial activity. Methods: Ethyl piperidin-4-carboxylate (1) was mixed with 4-toluenesulfonyl chloride (2) in benignant conditions to yield ethyl 1-(4-toluenesulfonyl)piperidin-4-carboxylate (3) and then 1-(4- toluenesulfonyl)piperidin-4-carbohydrazide (4). Intermolecular cyclization of 4 into 2-mercapto-5-(1-(4- toluenesulfonyl) piperidin-4-yl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole (5) was obtained on reflux with CS2 in the presence of KOH. Molecule 5 was stirred with alkyl halides, 6a-i, in DMF in the presence of LiH to synthesize the final compounds, 7a-i. The structures of these molecules were elucidated by Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopy, proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) and electron impact mass spectrometry (EI-MS). Antibacterial activity was evaluated against five bacterial strains, namely, Salmonella typhi, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis, with ciprofloxacin used as standard antibacterial agent. Results: Out of nine synthesized derivatives, compound 7a was the most active against three bacterial strains, S. typhi, E. coli and P. aeruginosa, with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 9.11 ± 0.40, 9.89 ± 0.45 and 9.14 ± 0.72 μM, respectively, compared with 7.45 ± 0.58, 7.16 ± 0.58 and 7.14 ± 0.18 μM, respectively, for the reference standard (ciprofloxacin). Similarly, compounds 7a - 7c showed relatively good antibacterial activity against B. subtilis strain while compound 7e - 7g revealed good results against S. typhi bacterial strain. Conclusion: The results indicate that S-substituted derivatives of the parent compound are more effective antibacterial agents than the parent compound, even with minor differences in substituents

Preliminary structure-activity relationship studies on some novel s-substituted aliphatic analogues of 5-{1-[(4- chlorophenyl) sulfonyl]-3-piperidinyl}-1, 3, 4-oxadiazol-2-yl sulfide

Purpose: To study the structure-activity relationships of synthetic multifunctional sulfides through evaluation of lipoxygenase and anti-bacterial activities. Methods: S-substituted derivatives of the parent compound 5-(1-(4-chlorophenylsulfonyl) piperidin-3- yl)-1, 3, 4-oxadiazole-2-thiol were synthesized through reaction with different saturated and unsaturated alkyl halides in DMF medium, with NaH catalyst. Spectral characterization of each derivative was carried out with respect to IR, 1H - NMR, 13C - NMR and EI - MS. The lipoxygenase inhibitory and antibacterial activities of the derivatives were determined using standard procedures. Results: Compound 5e exhibited higher lipoxygenase inhibitory potential than the standard (Baicalein®), with % inhibition of 94.71 ± 0.45 and IC50 of 20.72 ± 0.34 μmoles/L. Compound 5b showed significant antibacterial potential against all the bacterial strains with % inhibition ranging from 62.04 ± 2.78, 69.49 ± 0.41, 63.38 ± 1.97 and 59.70 ± 3.70 to 78.32 ± 0.41, while MIC ranged from 8.18 ± 2.00, 10.60 ± 1.83, 10.84 ± 3.00, 9.81 ± 1.86 and 11.73 ± 5.00 μmoles/L for S. typhi, E. coli, P. aeruginosa, B. subtilis and S. aureus, respectively. Compounds 5d, 5e and 5g showed good antibacterial activity against S. typhi and B. subtilis bacterial strains. Conclusion: The results suggest that compound 5e bearing n-pentyl group is a potent lipoxygenase inhibitor, while compound 5b with n-propyl substitution is a strong antibacterial agent. In addition, compounds 5d, 5e and 5g bearing n-butyl, n-pentyl and n-octyl groups, respectively, are good antibacterial agents against S. typhi and B. subtilis.

S-Alkylated/aralkylated 2-(1H-indol-3-yl-methyl)-1,3,4- oxadiazole-5-thiol derivatives. 1. Synthesis and characterization

Purpose: To synthesize and characterize S-alkylated/aralkylated 2-(1H-indol-3-ylmethyl)-1,3,4- oxadiazole-5-thiol derivatives. Methods: 2-(1H-indol-3-yl)acetic acid (1) was reacted with absolute ethanol and catalytic amount of sulfuric acid to form ethyl 2-(1H-indol-3-yl)acetate (2) which was transformed to 2-(1H-indol-3- yl)acetohydrazide (3) by refluxing with hydrazine hydrate in methanol. Ring closure reaction of 3 with carbon disulfide and ethanolic potassium hydroxide yielded 2-(1H-indol-3-ylmethyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole-5- thiol (4) which was finally treated with alkyl/aralkyl halides (5a-u) in DMF and NaH to yield Salkylated/ aralkylated 2-(1H-indol-3-ylmethyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole-5-thiols (6a-u). Structural elucidation was done by IR, 1H-NMR and EI-MS techniques Results: 2-(1H-indol-3-ylmethyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole-5-thiol (4) was synthesized as the parent molecule and was characterized by IR and the spectrum showed peaks resonating at (cm-1) 2925 (Ar-H), 2250 (S-H ), 1593 (C=N ) and 1527 (Ar C=C ); 1H-NMR spectrum showed signals at δ 11.00 (s, 1H, NH-1ʹ), 7.49 ( br.d, J = 7.6 Hz, 1H, H-4\'), 7.37 (br.d, J = 8.0 Hz, 1H, H-7\'), 7.34 (br.s, 1H, H-2\'), 7.09 (t, J = 7.6 Hz, 1H, H-5\'), 7.00 (t, J = 7.6 Hz, 1H, H-6\') and 4.20 (s, 2H, CH2-10ʹ). EI-MS presented different fragments peaks at m/z 233 (C11H9N3OS)˙+ [M+2]+, 231 (C11H9N3OS)˙+ [M]+, 158 (C10H8NO)+, 156 (C10H8N2)˙+, 130 (C9H8N)+. The derivatives (6a-6u) were prepared and characterized accordingly. Conclusion: S-alkylated/aralkylated 2-(1H-indol-3-ylmethyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole-5-thiols (6a-u) were successfully synthesized.