背景:不同研究领域之间的相互联系由于其在解决科学问题方面的前沿观点而引起了人们的兴趣。Terminaliaarjuna在印度本土用于治疗多种疾病,其药理活性在最近的药物再利用研究中得到了重新审视。
目的:本研究强调了从Terminaliaarjuna树皮中高效的超声辅助提取植物化学物质。随着提取工艺的优化,对粗乙醇提取物进行植物化学分析和对其抗癌性质的计算机研究。
方法:采用三级四因素Box-Behnken设计来优化四个操作参数,即提取时间,超声波电源,乙醇浓度(作为提取溶剂)和溶质(以g为单位):溶剂(以mL为单位)的比例。在最佳参数条件下,获得粗提取物并进行GC-MS分析。结合分子对接的网络药理学分析(通过使用Cytoscape构建和可视化生物网络)揭示了粗提取物的潜在抗肿瘤靶标。
结果:方差分析表显示了显著性,建议的二阶多项式模型的充分性和可靠性,R²值为0.917,调整后的R²为0.865。实验结果表明,所制备的粗提取物具有显着的抗氧化潜力。粗提物的GC-MS分析可预测提取的植物化学物质,而构建的生物网络突出了其在结直肠癌中的多靶向活性。
结论:该研究确定了三种植物化学物质。木犀草素,β-谷甾醇和空心酸作为有效的抗癌剂,可以通过体外和体内实验进行扩展,以验证计算机结果,因此,在多靶向结直肠癌治疗中建立了潜在的植物化学物质,副作用最小。
BACKGROUND: The interconnection between different fields of research has gained interest due to its cutting-edge perspectives in solving scientific problems. Terminalia arjuna is indigenously used in India for curing several diseases, and its pharmacological activities are being revisited in recent drug-repurposing research.
OBJECTIVE: Efficient ultrasound-assisted extraction of phytochemicals from the bark of Terminalia arjuna is highlighted in this study. Following the optimization of the extraction process, the crude hydroethanolic extract is subjected to phytochemical profiling and an in-silico investigation of its anti-cancer properties.
METHODS: A three-level four-factor Box-Behnken design is exploited to optimize four operational parameters, namely extraction time, ultrasonic power, ethanol concentration (as the extracting solvent) and solute (in g): solvent (in mL) ratio. At the optimum parametric condition, the crude extract is obtained, and its GC-MS analysis is carried out. An analysis of network pharmacology (by constructing and visualizing biological networks using Cytoscape) combined with molecular docking reveals the potential antineoplastic targets of the crude extract.
RESULTS: The ANOVA table exhibits the significance, adequacy and reliability of the proposed second-order polynomial model with the R² value of 0.917 and adjusted R² of 0.865. Experimental results portray the significant antioxidant potential of the prepared extract in its crude form. The GC-MS analysis of the crude extract predicts the extracted phytochemicals, while the constructed biological networks highlight its multi-targeted activity in colorectal cancer.
CONCLUSIONS: The study identifies three phytochemicals viz. luteolin, β-sitosterol and arjunic acid as potent anti-cancer agents and can be extended with in-vitro and in-vivo experiments to validate the in-silico results, thus establishing lead phytochemicals in multi-targeted colorectal cancer therapies.