Chemical Profiling, Pharmacological Insights and In Silico Studies of Methanol Seed Extract of Sterculia foetida.

Sterculia foetida, also known as jangli badam in Bangladesh, is a traditionally used plant that has pharmacological activities. A qualitative phytochemical analysis was performed to assess the metabolites in a methanolic extract of S. foetida seeds (MESF), and the cytotoxic, thrombolytic, anti-arthritics, analgesic, and antipyretic activities were examined using in vitro, in vivo, and in silico experiments. Quantitative studies were performed through gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) analysis. The brine shrimp lethality bioassays and clot lysis were performed to investigate the cytotoxic and thrombolytic activities, respectively. The anti-arthritics activity was assessed using the albumin denaturation assay. Analgesic activity was determined using the acetic acid-induced writhing test and the formalin-induced paw-licking test. A molecular docking study was performed, and an online tool was used to perform ADME/T (absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion/toxicity) and PASS (Prediction of Activity Spectra for Substances). GC-MS analysis identified 29 compounds in MESF, consisting primarily of phenols, terpenoids, esters, and other organic compounds. MESF showed moderate cytotoxic activity against brine shrimp and significant thrombolytic and anti-arthritics activities compared with the relative standards. The extract also showed a dose-dependent and significant analgesic and antipyretic activities. Docking studies showed that 1-azuleneethanol, acetate returned the best scores for the tested enzymes. These findings suggested that MESF represents a potent source of thrombolytic, anti-arthritic, analgesic, antipyretic agents with moderate cytotoxic effects.

Deciphering the Pharmacological Properties of Methanol Extract of Psychotria calocarpa Leaves by In Vivo, In Vitro and In Silico Approaches.

The present study explores the neuropharmacological, antinociceptive, antidiarrheal, antioxidant, thrombolytic and cytotoxic activity of methanol extract of Psychotria calocarpa leaves (MEPC). In anxiolytic activity testing of MEPC by elevated plus maze test, hole-board test and light-dark test, the extract exhibited a dose-dependent reduction of anxiety while the open field test observed a decreased locomotion. The administration of MEPC revealed a significant dose-dependent reduction of depressant behavior in forced swimming and tail suspension test. Additionally, the antinociceptive and antidiarrheal activity exposed a significant reduction of nociception and diarrheal behavior at the highest dose. In addition, a strong antioxidant activity was observed in DPPH-free radical-scavenging assay (IC50 = 461.05 µg/mL), total phenol content (118.31 ± 1.12 mg) and total flavonoid content (100.85 ± 0.97 mg). The significant clot-lysis activity was also observed with moderate toxicity (LC50 = 247.92 µg/mL) level in the lethality assay of brine shrimp. Moreover, in silico molecular docking study showed that the compound Psychotriasine could offer promising active site interactions for binding proteins. Furthermore, ADME/T and toxicological properties of the compound satisfied the Lipinski's rule of five and Veber rules for drug-like potential and toxicity level. Overall, MEPC had a potential neuropharmacological, antinociceptive, antidiarrheal and antioxidant activity that warranted further investigation.