The Chir Pine, Pinus roxburghii, named after William Roxburgh, is a pine native to the Himalaya. Pinus roxburghii Sarg. (Pinaceae) is traditionally used for several medicinal purposes in India. As the oil of the plant is extensively used in number of herbal preparation for curing inflammatory disorders, the present study was undertaken to assess analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities of its bark extract. Dried and crushed leaves of Pinus roxburghii Sarg. were defatted with petroleum ether and then extracted with alcohol. The alcoholic extract at the doses of 100 mg/kg, 300 mg/kg, and 500 mg/kg body weight was subjected to evaluation of analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities in experimental animal models. Analgesic activity was evaluated by acetic acid-induced writhing and tail immersion tests in Swiss albino mice; acute and chronic anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated by carrageenan-induced paw oedema and cotton pellet granuloma in Wistar albino rats. Diclofenac sodium and indomethacin were employed as reference drugs for analgesic and anti-inflammatory studies, respectively. In the present study, the alcoholic bark extract of Pinus roxburghii Sarg. demonstrated significant analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities in the tested models.

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Complementary therapies based on herbal medicines are the world's oldest form of medicine and recent reports suggest that such therapies still enjoy vast popularity, especially in developing countries where most of the population does not have easy access to modern medicine. Alstonia scholaris (L.) R.Br (Apocynaceae) is an evergreen tropical tree native to Indian sub-continent and South East Asia, having grayish rough bark and milky sap rich in poisonous alkaloid. It is reported to contain various iridoids, alkaloids, coumarins, flavonoids, leucoanthocyanins, reducing sugars, simple phenolics, steroids, saponins and tannins. It has been reported to possess antimicrobial, antiamoebic, antidiarrheal, antiplasmodial, hepatoprotective, immunomodulatory, anticancer, antiasthmatic, free radical scavenging, antioxidant, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antiulcer, antifertility and wound healing activities. In other parts of the world, it is used as a source cure against bacterial infection, malarial fever, toothache, rheumatism, snakebite, dysentery, bowl disorder, etc. Reports on the pharmacological activities of many isolated constituents from A. scholaris (L.) R.Br are lacking, which warrants further pharmacological studies.

The present study attempts to establish a relationship between ethnopharmacological claims and bioactive constituents present in Pinus roxburghii against all possible targets for diabetes through molecular docking and to develop a pharmacophore model for the active target. The process of molecular docking involves study of different bonding modes of one ligand with active cavities of target receptors protein tyrosine phosphatase 1-beta (PTP-1β), dipeptidyl peptidase-IV (DPP-IV), aldose reductase (AR), and insulin receptor (IR) with help of docking software Molegro virtual docker (MVD). From the results of docking score values on different receptors for antidiabetic activity, it is observed that constituents, namely, secoisoresinol, pinoresinol, and cedeodarin, showed the best docking results on almost all the receptors, while the most significant results were observed on AR. Then, LigandScout was applied to develop a pharmacophore model for active target. LigandScout revealed that 2 hydrogen bond donors pointing towards Tyr 48 and His 110 are a major requirement of the pharmacophore generated. In our molecular docking studies, the active constituent, secoisoresinol, has also shown hydrogen bonding with His 110 residue which is a part of the pharmacophore. The docking results have given better insights into the development of better aldose reductase inhibitor so as to treat diabetes related secondary complications.

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