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In silico and in vitro studies of isolated constituents from Callistemon citrinus leaves: Anti-microbial potential and inhibition of iNOS activity

Research Authors
Ereny M. Abdelmalek, Fazila Zulfiqar, Mohamed A. Albadry, Shabana I. Khan, Kumudini M. Meepagala, Mahmoud A. Ramadan, Faten M. Darwish, Mahmoud H. Assaf, Samir A. Ross
Research Date
Research Department
Research Journal
Phytochemistry
Research Publisher
ُ
Research Vol
186
Research Website
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phytochem.2021.112745
Research Year
2021
Research_Pages
112745
Research Abstract

Phytochemical investigation of Callistemon citrinus (Curtis) Skeels (syn. Callistemon lanceolatus (Sm.) Sweet and Melaleuca citrina (Curtis) Dum.Cours.) leaves resulted in the isolation of five undescribed compounds, including one acylphloroglucinol derivative and four monoterpene galloylglucosides, in addition to 29 known diverse secondary metabolites. Interestingly, this study reports chemosystematically significant isolation of the monoterpene galloylglucosides from the genus for the first time. Furthermore, exploration of the isolated compounds as inhibitors of inflammation-related molecular targets, molecular docking studies targeting human adipocyte lipid-binding protein FABP4 (3P6H) and human nitric oxide synthase (3E7G) were carried out in order with the in vitro evaluation of the isolated compounds for their anti-microbial and inhibitory of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) activities. Molecular docking studies revealed that eighteen compounds showed lower docking scores than ibuprofen, the native ligand in the crystal structure 3P6H, and nine compounds showed lower docking scores than AR-C95791, the native ligand in the binding site of 3E7G. Additionally, in vitro studies revealed that seven compounds showed moderate iNOS inhibitory activity. They also were moderately cytotoxic to HepG2, LLC-PK1 and Vero cells. Pulverulentone A showed moderate antibacterial activity against MRSA (IC50 22.2 μM) and antifungal activity against C. neoformans, while corosolic acid showed strong antibacterial activity against VRE (IC50 15.9 μM).Thus, the in silico and in vitro studies indicated that some isolated compounds hold potentials as inhibitors of iNOS activity and anti-microbial agents.