Chemical profiling and in-silico study of Phragmanthera incana (Schum.) Balle species Growing on Albizia lebbeck (L.) Benth in the management of type 2 diabetes

Abstract

Synthetic drugs have relatively attained its optimal significant potency to manage various diseases but with series of side effects that emanates from its administration. Hence, the need to exploit safer alternative therapies, like the use of medicinal plants, for newer compounds with therapeutic potential to manage type 2 diabetes.  Ethnobotanical study has claimed that Phragmanthera incana leaves have antidiabetic potential. Thus, this study focuses on investigating P. incana for its phytochemicals as well as isolating bioactive compounds for docking studies. Extraction using a cold maceration method with solvents of varying polarities, including hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, methanol, and a butanol/water mixture was done to afford PH, PC, PE, PM, and PB as the respective extracts. The study found that these leaves contain a diverse range of compounds, including alkaloids, saponins, tannins, phenols, and others. The hexane extract was partitioned by column chromatography to isolate bioactive compounds, which were subsequently characterised using FTIR, NMR, and MS spectroscopic techniques. This led to the identification of Friedelin and 1-octadecene. The in silico studies showed Friedelin as the most promising compound with a binding energy of -10.2 kcal/mol. It was revealed to be a potential antidiabetic agent but immune-toxic. The study also designed derivatives of Friedelin to mitigate this immunotoxicity, particularly two compounds coded BAM2 and BAM4 were derived and found to be less toxic. In summary, the study highlights the potentials of Friedelin isolated from Phragmanthera incana leaves for  the management of diabetes and the development of its safer derivatives of as potential drug candidates.