Despite the great effort that has gone into developing new molecules as multitarget compounds to treat Alzheimer’s disease (AD), none of these have been approved to treat this disease. Therefore, it will be interesting to determine whether benzazoles such as benzimidazole, benzoxazole, and benzothiazole, employed as pharmacophores, could act as multitarget drugs. AD is a multifactorial disease in which several pharmacological targets have been identified—some are involved with amyloid beta (Aβ) production, such as beta secretase (BACE1) and beta amyloid aggregation, while others are involved with the cholinergic system as acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butirylcholinesterase (BChE) and nicotinic and muscarinic receptors, as well as the hyperphosphorylation of microtubule-associated protein (tau). In this review, we describe the in silico and in vitro evaluation of benzazoles on three important targets in AD: AChE, BACE1, and Aβ. Benzothiazoles and benzimidazoles could be the best benzazoles to act as multitarget drugs for AD because they have been widely evaluated as AChE inhibitors, forming π–π interactions with W286, W86, Y72, and F338, as well as in the AChE gorge and catalytic site. In addition, the sulfur atom from benzothiazol interacts with S286 and the aromatic ring from W84, with these compounds having an IC₅₀ value in the μM range. Also, benzimidazoles and benzothiazoles can inhibit Aβ aggregation. However, even though benzazoles have not been widely evaluated on BACE1, benzimidazoles evaluated in vitro showed an IC₅₀ value in the nM range. Therefore, important chemical modifications could be considered to improve multitarget benzazoles’ activity, such as substitutions in the aromatic ring with electron withdrawal at position five, or a linker 3 or 4 carbons in length, which would allow for better interaction with targets.

Chagas disease is caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. One of the two first-line drugs for treatment is nifurtimox, a nitrofuran that exhibits high toxicity. Therefore, the need arises to investigate new therapeutic options, and, in this sense, our objective was to study compounds that maintain the trypanocidal activity associated with the furan nucleus and by structural modification of substituents reduce their toxicity. In the following research work, a chemical library was formed using the databases PubChem, ChEMBL and ChemSpider, later a virtual screening was carried out with the chemoinformatic tools Way2Drug, molinspiration, DataWarrior and admetSAR obtaining the prediction of biological activity, physicochemical parameters, data of toxicity and pharmacokinetic properties, respectively. The last stage consisted of the molecular docking of the molecules at the active site of the trypanothione reductase protein of Trypanosoma cruzi, determining its binding energy and intermolecular interactions. Compounds NF-85, NF-150, NF-246 and NF-279 with potential anti-T. cruzi activity were identified, the four molecules had greater affinity for trypanothione reductase (-7.0, -7.2, -7.0 and -7.3 kcal / mol, respectively), compared to nifurtimox (-6.7 kcal / mol).