Design and Synthesis of Novel Purine Analogues as Potential IL‐1β Inhibitors Targeting Vascular Inflammation

Abstract Proinflammatory cytokine interleukin (IL)‐1β is a key mediator of the inflammatory response in atherosclerosis. Targeting IL‐1β represents a new approach for the anti‐inflammatory therapy of cardiovascular diseases. Based on our previous data demonstrating that cardioprotective 6‐piperazinyl purines can effectively inhibit IL‐1β release in vascular cells, in this study, we present the synthesis of a next generation of purine analogues bearing either a furoxan moiety as a nitric oxide (NO) donor, or a (methylsulfonyl)thio group, a benzothioamide, or a 5‐phenyl‐3H‐1,2‐dithiole‐3‐thione