Abstract
Glycyrrhizin is a phytocompound which is derived from Glycyrrhiza glabra. It is used in treating the upper respiratory tract disease like cough, bronchitis, laryngitis, sore throat, etc. It has various medicinal uses in rheumatism, peptic ulcers, asthma, allergies, and inflammation. Glycyrrhizin has been reported to possess antibacterial, antiviral, antioxidant, anti inflammatory properties. In view of the above facts, the present in silico study was designed to demonstrate the molecular mechanism underlying the antimicrobial activity of glycyrrhizin against common dental pathogens such as Streptococcus mutans, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Treponema denticola, Enterococcus faecalis and Tannerella forsythia. The STITCH tool was used to identify the drug-protein interaction. The functional class of the protein was deduced using VICMPred, followed by the identification of epitopes on the virulence factors using BepiPred. Further, the subcellular location of the virulence factors were also studied using PSORTb software. The computational analysis performed identified several virulence factors viz., short chain dehydrogenase/reductase family oxidoreductase of Treponema denticola and D-mannonate oxidoreductase of Tannerella forsythia which were found to interact with glycyrrhizin. Interestingly, phosphopyruvate hydratase was found to be the protein present in all the five genera was shown to interact with glycyrrhizin. Thus the present study reveals the target proteins on the dental pathogens which were shown to interact with glycyrrhizin. Furthermore, experimental validation of the results are warranted to provide substantial details on the anti-microbial activity of glycyrrhizin against common dental pathogens.
Highlights
The emergence of drug resistant microbes is regarded as a threat to mankind
Phytocompound glycyrrhizin was tested against dental pathogens namely Porphyromonas gingivalis,Treponema denticola, Tannerella forsythia, Streptococcus mutans, and Enterococcus faecalis
The repertoire of protein from Porphyromonas gingivalis, treponema denticola, Tannerella forsythia, streptococcus mutans and Enterococcus faecalis interacting with glycyrrhizin were used for predicting virulence
Summary
The emergence of drug resistant microbes is regarded as a threat to mankind. Multidrug resistant in different microbial species underscores the need for alternate drugs for its eradication. The present in silico study is one such attempt to identify the protein targets of a phytocompound known as glycyrrhizin in common dental pathogens. Antimicrobial susceptibility assays have been performed to assess the susceptibility or resistance of a specific drug to a pathogen being tested. It provides details on the variations in drug response by the microorganism, the test does not identify the potential molecular targets of the organism being tested. In view of the above fact, the present study has been designed to assess the antimicrobial effect of glycyrrhizin against common dental pathogens. To a lesser extent high doses of glycyrrhizin have been shown to induce hypertension and hypovolemia [10]
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