Copper and Its Complexes in Medicine: A Biochemical Approach

Table 3

Inhibitory effects of selected copper complexes.

Complex	Biological in vitro activity		IC50  ^a,b (μΜ)	Reference
Bis(4-nitroacetophenone thiosemicarbazonat) copper(II)	Anti-trypanosomal	Trypanosoma cruzi	0.056 ^c (0.28)^c	[63]
Bis(5-nitrofuran-2-carboxaldehyde-N4-ethylpiperidine thiosemicarbazone) copper(II) chloride	Antiamoebic	HK-9 strain of Entamoeba histolytica	0.34(2.68)	[62]
Bis(thiophene-2-carboxaldehyde-N^4-methyl benzyl thiosemicarbazone) copper(II) chloride	Antiamoebic	HK-9 strain of Entamoeba histolytica	0.21(1.21)	[62]
(2-acetylpyridine)pyridine-2-carboxamidrazone copper(II) chloride	Antiproliferative	Mouse melanoma cell line B16F10.^d	6.8	[60]
Cu2(μ-L)2(μ-Cl)2L2Cl2L= 6-(2-chlorobenzylamino) purine	Antitumor	Mouse melanoma B16FO	8.2(85)	[61]
		Human malignant melanoma G361	20.0	[61]
			(95)
		Human osteogenic sarcoma HOS	23 (>100)	[61]
		Human breast adenocarcinoma MCF7	24(>100)	[61]
Tetra(N-methyl-1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphaadamantane copper(I) tetrafluoro borate	Antitumor	Cervix tumor (HeLa)	7.6	[69]
		Colon tumor (HCT-15)	19.2	[69]
		Lung tumor (A549)	8.5	[69]
		Melanoma (A375)	16.4	[69]
Bis(triphenylphosphine), dihydridobis(3-nitro-1,2,4-triazolyl)borate copper(I)	Antitumor	Promyelocytic leukemia (HL60)	4.8	[79]
		Cervix carcinoma (A431)	6.7	[69]
		Lung tumor (A549)	1.5	[69]
		Melanoma (A375)	16.4	[69]

^aValues refer to the most active copper (II) complex tested. Half- maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) is a quantitative measure of the effectiveness of a compound in inhibiting a biological function as it indicates how much of a particular substance is needed to inhibit a given biological process.
^bValues in parenthesis refer to the free ligand.
^cThese values refer to inhibitory dose (ID₅₀): dose that inhibits 50% of Trypanosoma cruzi growth.
^dThe exponentially growing cells were counted by haemocytometer using the Trypan blue exclusion method to quantify cell viability.