Planta Med. 2015 Apr;81(6):495-506. doi: 10.1055/s-0035-1545884. Epub 2015 Apr 9.
Author information
- 1Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Drug Research, Punjabi University, Patiala, Punjab, India.
- 2Orekhovich Institute of Biomedical Chemistry, Moscow, Russia.
Abstract
In
silico techniques in drug discovery may rationalise and speed up the
identification of lead molecules from nature. Drug discovery from
medicinal plants has mostly been confined to indications in accordance
with their ethnical use only. However, the availability of multiple
phytoconstituents in medicinal plants suggests that these may be much
more useful beyond their traditional uses and in the management of
chronic diseases, along with their comorbidities. In this study, the
computer programmes PASS and PharmaExpert were used to reveal the
medicinal plants useful in the comprehensive management of epilepsy and
associated psychiatric disorders based on the pleiotropic effects
predicted for their phytoconstituents. In silico analysis revealed that
seven of 50 medicinal plants from traditional Indian medicine possessed
the desired pleiotropic effect, i.e., anticonvulsant, antidepressant,
and nootropic activities. The majority of phytoconstituents from
Passiflora incarnata were concurrently predicted to have the desired
pleiotropic effects. Therefore, P. incarnata was pharmacologically
validated using the pentylenetetrazole kindling mouse model. Behavioural
and neurochemical evaluations confirmed the ameliorative role of P.
incarnata in epilepsy and the associated depression and memory deficit.
The pharmacological findings from this study propose that PASS and
PharmaExpert may serve as good tools for the optimisation of the
selection of plants based on their phytoconstituents for the treatment
of different ailments, even beyond their traditional use.
Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.
Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.
- PMID:
- 25856437
- [PubMed - in process]
