Evaluation of Antiplasmodial Activity in Silico and in Vitro of N-Acylhydrazone Derivatives

N -acylhydrazones are considered privileged structures in medicinal chemistry, being part of antimicrobial compounds (for example). In this study we show the activity of N -acylhydrazone compounds, namely AH1, AH2, AH4, AH5 in in vitro tests against the chloroquine-resistant strain of Plasmodium falciparum (W2) and against WI26 VA-4 human cell lines. All compounds showed low cytotoxicity (LC 50  > 100 µM). The 5 compound was the most active against Plasmodium falciparum , with an IC 50 value of 0.07 µM. 4 and 5 were selected among the tested compounds for molecular docking calculations to elucidate possible targets involved in their mechanism of action and the SwissADME analysis to predict their pharmacokinetic profile. The 5 compound showed affinity for 12 targets with low selectivity, while the 4 compound had greater affinity for only one target (3PHC). These compounds met Lipinski's standards in the ADME in silico tests, indicating good bioavailability results. These results demonstrate that these N -acylhydrazone compounds are good candidates for future preclinical studies against malaria.