Biochemical activities of the derivatives of dehydrodicaffeic acid dilactone.

Abstract
Activities of derivatives of dehydrodicaffeic acid dilactone (DDCAD) to inhibit [rat, mouse liver] catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), [rat brain] cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase (PDE) and dopa decarboxylase (DDC) were examined. Among those tested, 2,6-bis-(5'',6''-dibromo-4''-hydroxy-3''-methoxyphenyl)-3,7-dioxabicyclo-[3,3,0]-octane 4,8-dione was the strongest inhibitor of both COMT and PDE. There were no derivatives which showed a stronger inhibition against DDC than the original compound, DDCAD.