Abstract
Dhaiphul (Woodfordia fruticosa) is a frequently demanded plant in South-East Asian regions for its diverse medicinal values. This study was proposed to examine antioxidant, antidiabetic, and antidepressant potentials of methanol extract of W. fruticosa leaves (MEWF) and its derived n-hexane (NHFMEWF) and ethyl acetate (EAFMEWF) fractions through in vitro, in vivo, and computational models. Among test samples, MEWF and EAFMEWF contained the highest phenolic content and showed maximal antioxidant activity in DPPH radical scavenging and ferric reducing power assays. In comparison, NHFMEWF possessed maximum flavonoid content and a significantly potent α-amylase inhibitory profile comparable with positive control acarbose. In animal models of depression (forced swimming and tail suspension test), EAFMEWF and NHFMEWF demonstrated a dose-dependent antidepressant-like effect; explicitly, the depressive-like behaviors significantly declined in EAFMEWF-treated dosing groups in contrast to the control group. In the computational analysis, previously isolated flavonoid compounds from Dhaiphul leaves manifested potent binding affinity against several key therapeutic target proteins of diabetes and depressive disorders including α-amylase, serotonin transporter, dopamine transporter, and neuronal nitric oxide synthase with varying pharmacokinetics and toxicity profiles. This research’s outcomes may provide potential dietary supplements for mitigating hyperglycemia, cellular toxicity, and depressive disorder.
Highlights
Plants and plant extracts provide healthcare for more than three-quarters of the world’s population [1]
The Total Phenolic Content (TPC) assessed in EAFMEWF (238.04 ± 1.01 mg of GA equivalent (GAE)/gm of dry sample) was almost close to that of MEWF and it was shown to contain a fair amount of Total Flavonoid Content (TFC) (97.11 ± 0.67 mg of quercetin equivalent (QE)/gm of dry sample)
The current study provides evidence that W. fruticosa leaves possess dose-dependent antidepressant-like effects in predictive antidepressant models
Summary
Plants and plant extracts provide healthcare for more than three-quarters of the world’s population [1]. They have long been imitative sources of medicine, and the discovery of many of the medicines currently available is somehow (directly or indirectly) linked to them [2]. [6,7] It has multiple ethnobotanical applications such as healing bowel disorders, ulcers, diarrhea, dysentery, and other respiratory illnesses, in addition to curing rheumatism [8]. It contains a rich amount of phenolics, especially hydrolyzable tannins and flavonoids, as well as other minor non-phenolic constituents like steroids and triterpenoids [6]. Its α-amylase inhibitory and neuropharmacological potentials were seldom explored
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