Synthesis and SAR studies of 3,6-disubstituted indazole derivatives as potent hepcidin production inhibitors

Abstract Hepcidin has emerged as the central regulatory molecule of systemic iron homeostasis. Inhibition of hepcidin could be a strategy favorable to treating anemia of chronic disease (ACD). We report herein the synthesis and structure-activity relationships (SARs) of a series of indazole compounds as hepcidin production inhibitors. The optimization study of compound 1 led to a potent hepcidin production inhibitor 45 , which showed serum hepcidin lowering effects in a mouse IL-6 induced acute inflammatory model.