Discovery of novel sesquistilbene indanone analogues as potent anti-inflammatory agents.

To develop novel anti-inflammatory agents with improved pharmaceutical profiles, twenty-eight novel sesquistilbene indanone analogues were synthesized and evaluated for anti-inflammatory activity using RAW264.7 cells. Among these compounds, compound 11k was found to be one of the most potent analogues in inhibiting NO production in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. Furthermore, it could also significantly suppress LPS-induced iNOS and COX-2 expression and NO production through TLR4/JNK/NF-κB signaling pathway in a concentration dependent manner.