RESUMEN
Bioactive compounds derived from medicinal plants have acquired immense attentiveness in drug discovery and development. The present study investigated inâ vitro and predicted in silico the antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral properties of thymol and carvacrol, and assessed their safety. The performed microbiological assays against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica Typhimurium revealed that the minimal inhibitory concentration values ranged from (0.078 to 0.312â mg/mL) and the minimal fungicidal concentration against Candida albicans was 0.625â mg/mL. Molecular docking simulations, stipulated that these compounds could inhibit bacterial replication and transcription functions by targeting DNA and RNA polymerases receptors with docking scores varying between (-5.1 to -6.9â kcal/mol). Studied hydroxylated monoterpenes could hinder C. albicans growth by impeding lanosterol 14α-demethylase enzyme and showed a (ΔG=-6.2 and -6.3â kcal/mol). Computational studies revealed that thymol and carvacrol could target the SARS-Cov-2 spike protein of the Omicron variant RBD domain. Molecular dynamics simulations disclosed that these compounds have a stable dynamic behavior over 100â ns as compared to remdesivir. Chemo-computational toxicity prediction using Protoxâ II webserver indicated that thymol and carvacrol could be safely and effectively used as drug candidates to tackle bacterial, fungal, and viral infections as compared to chemical medication.