No abstract

Hyperlipidemia remains an important risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, including myocardial infarction and stroke. Some standard hypolipidemic drugs available in the market still do not meet expectations in lowering lipid levels. Investigation of alternative hypolipidemic agents continues to be carried out, including using purple corn plants with high-anthocyanin content. Plant anthocyanins have been shown to play an important role in lowering blood lipid levels. Here, we explored the potential of anthocyanin compounds in purple corn as a lipid-lowering agent through various mechanisms of action using an in-silico analysis. A total of fourteen proteins known to play a role in modulating blood lipid levels were set as target in molecular docking. Three active compounds from purple corn anthocyanin extract namely cyanidin-3-glucoside, cyanidin chloride, and peonidin-3-glucoside were used as ligands. The docking methods used the Protein-Ligand ANT System (PLANTS) to determine the binding affinities of those ligands to all target proteins and visualization of docking results displayed using Discovery Studio. Molecular docking of the three ligands with target proteins showed that purple corn anthocyanin extracts bound effectively to the active site of AMPK (adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase), ATP (adenosine triphosphate) citrate lyase, FABP4 (fatty acid-binding protein), glucokinase, and proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9). Testing ligands c3g and p3g showed a better potency than cya-ch in lowering lipid serum level. Insilico analysis showed that purple corn anthocyanin extract has potential as a hypolipidemic agent, and it should be confirmed by a wet lab setup.