In Vivo and In Silico Study of the Antinociceptive and Toxicological Effect of the Extracts of Petiveria alliacea L. Leaves

Abstract

Petiveria alliacea L. is an herb used in traditional medicine in Mexico and its roots have been studied to treat pain. However, until now, the antinociceptive properties of the leaves have not been investigated, being the main section used empirically for the treatment of diseases. For this reason, this study aimed to evaluate the antinociceptive and toxoicological activity of various extracts (aqueous, hexanic, and methanolic) from P. alliacea L. leaves in NIH mice and to perform an in silico analysis of the phytochemical compounds. Firstly, the antinociceptive effect was analyzed using the formalin model and the different doses of each of the extracts that were administered orally to obtain the dose–response curves. In addition, acute toxicity was determined by the up and down method and serum biochemical analysis. Later, the phytochemical study of extracts was carried out by thin layer chromatography (TLC) and visible light spectroscopy, and the volatile chemical components were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Moreover, the most abundant compounds identified in the phytochemical study were analyzed in silico to predict their biological activity (PASSonline) and toxicology (OSIRIS Property Explorer). As a result, it was known that all extracts at doses from 10 to 316 mg/kg significantly reduced the pain response in both phases of the formalin model, with values of 50–60% for the inflammatory response. The toxicological studies (DL50) exhibited that all extracts did not cause any mortality up to the 2000 mg/kg dose level. This was corroborated by the values in the normal range of the biochemical parameters in the serum. Finally, the phytochemical screening of the presence of phenolic structures (coumarins, flavonoids) and terpenes (saponins and terpenes) was verified, and the highest content was of a lipid nature, 1.65 ± 0.54 meq diosgenin/mL in the methanolic extract. A total of 54 components were identified, 11 were the most abundant, and only four (Eicosane, Methyl oleate, 4-bis(1-phenylethyl) phenol, and Ethyl linolenate) of them showed a probability towards active antinociceptive activity in silico greater than 0.5. These results showed that the P. alliacea L. leaf extract possesses molecules with antinociceptive activity.

Amazonian Plants: A Global Bibliometric Approach to Petiveria alliacea L. Pharmacological and Toxicological Properties

“…It is also interesting to note the progression in the number of publications over the years, which was 0.9 articles/year in the first decade, increasing in the following decades to 1.4 and 2.3 articles/year. Between 2021 and 2022, eight articles were published [ 2 , 4 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 12 , 19 ]. This, however, points to the continuity of the progression, reaching four articles/year.…”

“…This, however, points to the continuity of the progression, reaching four articles/year. In this last period, we also observed the inclusion of computational tools (in silico methods) to investigate the properties and mechanisms of P. alliacea [ 8 ].…”

“…Regarding the plant derivatives used in the studies, leaves [ 2 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 14 , 15 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 29 , 30 , 32 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 38 , 41 , 42 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 48 , 50 , 56 , 57 ], roots [ 7 , 16 , 33 , 37 , 39 , 43 , 47 , 49 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 55 ], and stems [ 16 , 21 , 24 , 26 , 36 , 37 , 39 , 45 , 49 , 51 , 58 ], respectively, we...…”

“…We verified a great diversity of activities being approached, aligned with the range of P. alliacea’s traditional indications, whose first formal records date back to the colonial period, when it was used by enslaved people, both for its therapeutic benefits and to induce intoxication [ 25 , 27 ]. Doses between 10 [ 8 ] and 5000 mg/kg [ 35 ] have been tested in the investigation of about 20 different biological activities in vivo, with its toxicity ( n = 9), immunomodulatory ( n = 7), antimicrobial ( n = 7), antinociceptive ( n = 5), anti-inflammatory ( n = 5), antineoplasic ( n = 5), and antioxidant ( n = 4) properties being the most frequent. The in vitro concentrations tested range from 5 to 1000 µg/mL [ 6 , 10 , 18 , 20 , 33 , 39 , 46 , 58 ].…”

Exploring the Therapeutic Potential of Petiveria alliacea L. Phytochemicals: A Computational Study on Inhibiting SARS-CoV-2’s Main Protease (Mpro)

“…In this study, we collected 150 phytocompounds for Petiveria alliacea L. through a systematic literature review [24,[30][31][32][33] and using the online database IMPPAT 2.0 [34] (https://cb.imsc.res.in/imppat/home, accessed on 10 January 2024). The 3D structure of these phytocompounds was extracted from the PubChem database [35].…”