Comparative Study of Piper sylvaticum Roxb. Leaves and Stems for Anxiolytic and Antioxidant Properties Through In Vivo, In Vitro, and In Silico Approaches

Abstract

Piper sylvaticum Roxb. is traditionally used by the indigenous people of tropical and subtropical countries like Bangladesh, India, and China for relieving the common cold or a variety of chronic diseases, such as asthma, chronic coughing, piles, rheumatic pain, headaches, wounds, tuberculosis, indigestion, and dyspepsia. This study tested anxiolytic and antioxidant activities by in vivo, in vitro, and in silico experiments for the metabolites extracted (methanol) from the leaves and stems of P. sylvaticum (MEPSL and MEPSS). During the anxiolytic evaluation analyzed by elevated plus maze and hole board tests, MEPSL and MEPSS (200 and 400 mg/kg, body weight) exhibited a significant and dose-dependent reduction of anxiety-like behavior in mice. Similarly, mice treated with MEPSL and MEPSS demonstrated dose-dependent increases in locomotion and CNS simulative effects in open field test. In addition, both extracts (MEPSL and MEPSS) also showed moderate antioxidant activities in DPPH scavenging and ferric reducing power assays compared to the standard, ascorbic acid. In parallel, previously isolated bioactive compounds from this plant were documented and subjected to a molecular docking study to correlate them with the pharmacological outcomes. The selected four major phytocompounds displayed favorable binding affinities to potassium channel and xanthine oxidoreductase enzyme targets in molecular docking experiments. Overall, P. sylvaticum is bioactive, as is evident through experimental and computational analysis. Further experiments are necessary to evaluate purified novel compounds for the clinical evaluation.

Intervention in Neuropsychiatric Disorders by Suppressing Inflammatory and Oxidative Stress Signal and Exploration of In Silico Studies for Potential Lead Compounds from Holigarna caustica (Dennst.) Oken leaves

“…Although promising anxiolytic insights of MEHC have been observed in case of EPM and hole board tests, hence, we further verified the intensity of locomotor and exploratory activities through open field and hole cross assays. The situations of these tests are highly hostile as well as anxiogenic, for which most classical anxiolytic agents are identified from these assessments [61]. In our study, anxiolytics (MEHC at 200 and 400 mg/kg) administration significantly stimulated locomotion and exploration tendency in mice ( Figure 3A,B).…”

An integrated exploration of pharmacological potencies of Bischofia javanica (Blume) leaves through experimental and computational modeling

“…In order to assess the action of plant extract on the central nervous system, perception of locomotor activity is considered to be a remarkable method [ 59 ]. Locomotion of an experimental animal in a new environment represents its motor activity, and a downfall in the locomotor performance indicates CNS depressant action [ 60 ].…”

“…Locomotion of an experimental animal in a new environment represents its motor activity, and a downfall in the locomotor performance indicates CNS depressant action [ 60 ]. Because during active locomotion, excitatory feedback is supplied by sensory afferent neurons to spinal interneuron and motor neuron in regards to muscle constriction [ 59 ]. This feedback pathway is further inhibited by GABAergic interneuron through an allosteric moderation of GABA receptors and thus induces CNS depressant effect [ 61 ].…”

“…The hole board test is another valuable paradigm to evaluate the anxiolytic response of mice under unfavorable conditions. The reluctance of the head dipping tendency is regarded as anxiogenic behavior of mice, whereas spontaneous exploration of visiting holes (head dipping) indicates the anxiolytic nature of plant extract [ 59 ]. During this study, the administration of MEBJ increased the tendency of head dipping significantly at the dose of 200 mg/kg (P < 0.01) and 400 mg/kg (P < 0.001) as compared with the control group ( Figure 2 G).…”

GC-MS Phytochemical Profiling, Pharmacological Properties, and In Silico Studies of Chukrasia velutina Leaves: A Novel Source for Bioactive Agents

“…Moreover, anxiety is also a usual psychiatric problem caused by oxidative stress and affects a large number of people in this world [6]. When anxiety is in the severe stage, it is a huge CNS problem and a massive number of chronic diseases arise from it [7]. Performance impairment of numerous tasks are caused by anxiety disarrays and high rates of medically untold etiology are connected with enhancing the utilization of healthcare, that are sharply and independently attached with severe medical distemper, low levels of lifestyle, and inabilities [6].…”