Efficacy of Small Molecule Phytochemicals of Petroleum Ether Pod Extract of Prosopis cineraria (L.) Druce on HMG-CoA Reductase and Biomarker Indices of Lipoproteins: In-vitro, In-vivo and In-silico Study

Abstract

The assigned goals of the study were examined to HMG-CoA reductase inhibition and antioxidants potential of the small molecule phytochemicals of petroleum ether pod extract of Prosopis cineraria (L.) Druce by in-vitro, in-vivo, and in-silico assessments. The phytochemical fingerprinting of the extract was done by LC-MS analysis, and compounds were identified using mass hunter software. In-vitro HMG-CoA reductase assay performed by sigma Aldrich kit. According, in-vivo investigations were conducted by using a hypercholesterolemic rabbit animal model. Further, in-silico analyses of molecular docking and ADMET were conducted by standard protocol. The leading identified compounds, i.e., prosogerin-A, luteolin, and gallic acid, were docked with the target enzyme of HMG-CoA reductase, which demonstrated significant binding energies up to -7.2 to 8.1(Kcal/mol). Subsequently, the ADMET predictions revealed druggability and ideal pharmacokinetics profile. Accordingly, the in-vitro HMG-CoA reductase inhibition assay was showed 53.1% inhibition capability of the test extract. The in-vivo investigation shown that the test extract caused significant reductions in the atherogenic index (log (Total cholesterol/triglyceride), Castelli risk index-I (CRI-I), and Castelli risk -II(CRI-II) along with lipid profile and antioxidants levels. It can be concluded that small-molecule phytochemicals such as Prosogerin A, Luteolin, Gallic acid are present in petroleum ether pod extract of Prosopis cineraria (L.) Druce possesses the capability to subside hypercholesterolemia and ameliorations in biomarker lipoproteins indices through HMG-CoA reductase inhibition and antioxidant potential.