Natural phenol carbamates: Selective BuChE/FAAH dual inhibitors show neuroprotection in an Alzheimer’s disease mouse model

FAAH inhibition can indirectly enhance endocannabinoid signaling to therapeutic levels, effectively preventing or slowing its progression of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Hence, the search for effective dual FAAH/cholinesterase inhibitors is considerable need for disease-modifying therapies. To this aim, we designed, synthesized, and tested three series of natural phenol carbamates. The majority of carbamates proved to be potent on a single target, amongst them, compound D12 containing paeonol motif was identified as an effective dual BuChE/FAAH inhibitor, with well-balanced nanomolar activity (IC₅₀ = 81 and 400 nM for hBuChE and hFFAH, respectively). D12 possessed BBB penetrating ability, benign safety, neuroprotection and pseudo-irreversible BuChE inhibition (K_d = 2.11 μM, k₂ = 2.27 min^-1), showing good drug-like properties. D12 also modulated the BV2 microglial polarization to inhibit neuroinflammation. In vivo study verified that D12 improved Aβ_1-41-induced learning impairments in AD mouse model for both short- and long-term memory responses. Thus, the dual activity of D12 could lead to a potentially more effective treatment for the counteraction of AD progression.