In Silico Toxicity Prediction of Bioactive Compounds of Dioscorea alata L.

Abstract

Yam (Dioscorea alata L.) comes from the Dioscoreaceae family. This type of yam is native to Africa and Asia. It is a staple in tropical countries. In addition, D. alata L. is also widely cultivated to be used as a basic substance for traditional medicine. D. alata L. has long been known to contain diosgenin. 1 Diosgenin is the most important steroidal saponin compound from D. alata L. because it has several biological functions, including immunomodulatory activity. D. alata L. has been shown to regulate metabolism, improve heart function, and have restorative effects. It has been shown to reduce fat in the liver and repair the cecum and colon after a high-fat diet. In addition, research on D. alata L. is concerned with the activity of scavenging reactive oxygen species, antioxidants, antidiabetics, anticlastogenic, antiosteoporotic, hypoallergenic, and immunomodulatory activities. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] However, D. alata L. is used as food and traditional medicine empirically from generation to generation. Based on the development of knowledge and research, it is necessary to know the safety of traditional medicine to avoid unwanted harmful or toxic effects, such as toxicity effect. The toxicity effects include human hepatotoxicity (H-HT), drug-induced liver injury (DILI), carcinogenicity, immunotoxicity, mutagenicity, and cytotoxicity. Hepatotoxicity is defined as an injury to the liver whereas DILI is an acute or chronic response to a natural or manufactured compound.