In vitro anthelmintic activity of ethanol and aqueous extracts of Terminalia macroptera and Bridelia micrantha against Heligmosomoides polygyrus, Caenorhabditis elegans and in-silico molecular docking evaluation of some isolated phytoconstituents

Abstract

BackgroundIn tropical and subtropical African nations, helminthiases are widespread and devastating to school-aged children. This study was undertaken in order to objectively support the ethnobotanical use of the stem bark of Terminalia macroptera and the leaves of Bridelia micrantha as anthelminthic agent, using Heligmosomoides polygyrus and Caenorhabditis elegans. MethodThe flotation technique was used to obtain fresh eggs of H. polygyrus from the feces of experimentally infected mice and culture to different stages of the larvae. Caenorhabditis elegans L4 larvae were obtained after bleaching adult worms to create a synchronized medium and then was cultured until the L4 larval stage. By tracking the larvae's movement, the worm micro tracker was used to assess the anthelminthic activity in a 96-well microplate. The extract was tested at various concentrations and distilled water served as the negative control, and albendazole as the positive control. The percentage of larvae motility inhibition was calculated. The Glide module of the Schrodinger Maestro software was used to conduct the docking studies. The software's score function was used to rank and classify several potentials adduct patterns produced by molecular docking. ResultsFor the ethanol and aqueous extracts of T. macroptera, the IC50 of the ovicidal activity was 0.013 and 0.042 mg/ml, respectively, whereas for the ethanol and aqueous extracts of B. micrantha, it was 0.38 and 0.63 mg/ml. This demonstrates that ethanol extracts are more effective than water extracts in preventing hatching inside the host. T. macroptera larvicidal activity against L1, L2, and L3 larvae resulted in IC50 values of 0.47, 0.29, and 0.004 mg/ml for the ethanol extract, respectively, while B. micrantha's had IC50 values of 0.154, 1.4, and 0.047 mg/ml. Caenorhabditis elegans was very sensitive with IC50 values of, 4.733, and 2.8 µg̸ mL, respectively, for the ethanol and aqueous extract. In B. micrantha, Isoquercetin has the most interaction with amino acids, Asparagine, Phenylalanine, Glycine, Glutamic acid, and Tyrosine, because of its abundant hydroxyl functional group as well as carbonyl group and benzene ring, which makes it have a better inhibitory effect on the receptor protein while that of T. macroptera was Orientin. ConclusionThese findings imply that B. micrantha and T. macroptera may be effective as an anthelminthic agent. However, additional in vivo research is required to verify this biological activity. In addition, the hydroxyl groups as well as the flavonoid backbone of these compounds are the reason for the good effect of these proteins on the receptor protein, and the in silico studies of these compounds on the receptor protein and its interactions with amino acids confirm this claim.