A low toxicity synthetic cinnamaldehyde derivative ameliorates renal inflammation in mice by inhibiting NLRP3 inflammasome and its related signaling pathways.

Uncontrolled inflammation is a leading cause of various chronic diseases. Cinnamaldehyde (CA) is a major bioactive compound isolated from the essential oil of the leaves of Cinnamomum osmophloeum kaneh that exhibits anti-inflammatory activity; however, the use of CA is limited by its cytotoxicity. Here, we synthesized three CA derivatives and identified 4-hydroxycinnamaldehyde-galactosamine (HCAG) as a low toxicity anti-inflammatory compound in vitro (HCAG IC50 ≫ 1600 µM; CA IC50=40 µM) and in vivo.