Pharmacological evaluation and modeling study of compounds isolated from .

Medicines derived from plants are preferred over synthetic therapeutic agents in treating different diseases. (a member of Rhamnaceae family) is a medicinal plant used as a remedy of different diseases in Greek and Ayurveda medical systems. roots were shade dried and then subjected to extraction of bioactive compounds using different solvent systems and silica gel. From ethyl acetate fraction, three compounds ., p-coumaric acid (), 3,4-dimethoxy benzoic acid (), and 4-heptyloxy benzoic acid () were isolated in pure form. The selection of ethyl acetate fraction for isolation was based on HPLC profiling of crude extract and different fractions. These compounds were characterized by different spectroscopic techniques and evaluated for their antioxidant, anticholinesterase, α-glucosidase, and α-amylase inhibitory potentials. To find out possible binding interactions of with AChE and BChE crystals, docking studies were also carried out. Compound showed maximum scavenging capabilities of DPPH and ABTS free radicals with IC values of 69 and 62 μg/mL respectively. Excellent percent inhibition (83.4 ± 0.5% at highest concentration 1000 μg/mL) of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) was exhibited by compound IC = 80 μg/mL); whereas, for the mentioned concentration, 83.2 ± 1.1% inhibition (IC = 90 μg/mL) of butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) was observed as well. The compound exhibited highest % inhibition against α-glucosidase (IC = 84 μg/mL) whereas α-amylase was more potently inhibited by compound (% inhibition = 86.8 % and IC = 85 μg/mL). Docking scores of -1.391 Kcal/mol (BChE) and -6.253 Kcal/mol (AChE) were recorded using molecular docking software. Compound exhibited strong free radical scavenging and anticholinesterase potentials suggesting that it can be effectively used to treat oxidative stress and dementia in human.