Comparative Study of Piper sylvaticum Roxb. Leaves and Stems for Anxiolytic and Antioxidant Properties Through in vivo, in vitro, and in silico Approaches.

Piper sylvaticum Roxb. is traditionally used by the indigenous people of tropical and subtropical countries like Bangladesh, India, and China for relieving the common cold or a variety of chronic diseases, such as asthma, chronic coughing, piles, rheumatic pain, headaches, wounds, tuberculosis, indigestion, and dyspepsia. This study tested anxiolytic and antioxidant activities by in vivo, in vitro, and in silico experiments for the metabolites extracted (methanol) from the leaves and stems of P. sylvaticum (MEPSL and MEPSS). During the anxiolytic evaluation analyzed by elevated plus maze and hole board tests, MEPSL and MEPSS (200 and 400 mg/kg, body weight) exhibited a significant and dose-dependent reduction of anxiety-like behavior in mice. Similarly, mice treated with MEPSL and MEPSS demonstrated dose-dependent increases in locomotion and CNS simulative effects in open field test. In addition, both extracts (MEPSL and MEPSS) also showed moderate antioxidant activities in DPPH scavenging and ferric reducing power assays compared to the standard, ascorbic acid. In parallel, previously isolated bioactive compounds from this plant were documented and subjected to a molecular docking study to correlate them with the pharmacological outcomes. The selected four major phytocompounds displayed favorable binding affinities to potassium channel and xanthine oxidoreductase enzyme targets in molecular docking experiments. Overall, P. sylvaticum is bioactive, as is evident through experimental and computational analysis. Further experiments are necessary to evaluate purified novel compounds for the clinical evaluation.

In vivo analgesic effect of different extracts of Hopea odorata leaves in mice and in silico molecular docking and ADME/T property analysis of some isolated compounds from this plant.

Background The current study evaluates the analgesic effect of different extracts of Hopea odorata leaves in mice followed by molecular docking and absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity (ADME/T) analysis of isolated compounds derived from the plant with the COX-1 enzyme. Methods In the present study, the dried leaves of H. odorata were subjected to extraction using methanol, ethanol, and water. In vivo analgesic activity was evaluated by using the acetic acid-induced writhing test and formalin-induced paw licking test, and in silico molecular docking and ADME/T study were performed using Schrödinger Maestro (version 11.1) and online-based tools, respectively, on eight isolated compounds. Results The results showed that the methanolic extract of leaves has highest significant dose-dependent analgesic activity at both 200 and 400 mg/kg followed by ethanolic extract of leaves. Among all the compounds, ampelopsin showed the best docking score of -7.055, ensuring strong binding affinity between the ligand and the receptor, and ADME/T analysis using Web-based tools ensures the compound has not violated Lipinski's rule of five indicating its safety consumption. Conclusions The result confirms the analgesic activity of H. odorata leaves in both in vivo and in silico assays. The data support ampelopsin to be a potent analgesic compound worthy of future clinical trials and its "drug-likeliness".