Abstract:
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune, symmetrical polyarthritis characterized by
synovial hyperplasia leading to progressive bone and cartilage degeneration. In this
study, two medicinal plants namely Thymus serpyllum and Tachyspermum ammi have
been compared for their anti-arthritic potential against rheumatoid arthritis through
radical scavenging DPPH assay, albumin denaturation assay and human red blood cell
membrane stabilization assay followed by examining their modes of action using in-silico
approach. Potentially active compounds from GCMS analysis of methanolic extracts of
both plants were screened on the basis of Lipinski rule of 5, ADMET properties and
blood brain barrier permeability by utilizing data from online servers like swissADME
and admetSAR. Hub gene analysis was done on potential targets of rheumatoid arthritis
taken from Therapeutic Target Database (TTD) and two hub genes i.e Tumor Necrosis
Factor alpha (TNF α) and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A (VEGF-A) were
recruited as a result by using String and Cytoscape. All the shortlisted compounds from
plant extracts were docked with proteins, TNF-α and VEGF-A and the compounds which
exhibited least binding energies with both of the proteins were chosen. Two compounds
of Thymus serpyllum i.e Erythronolide A, 12-deoxy showed good binding energy with
TNF alpha where as 5-[5-(Trifluoromethyl)isoxazol-3-yl]thiophene-2-sulfonyl chloride
exhibited good binding energy with VEGFA. Similarly, two compounds of
Tachyspermum ammi i.e. Methyl 2-hydroxy-5-[(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)methyl]benzoate
showed least binding energy with TNF alpha and S-2-[2-Norbornylamino]ethyl
thiosulfuric acid with that of VEGFA. Results employ that methanolic extracts of both
plants exhibited good anti-arthritic potential whereas Thymus serpyllum showed more
potent anti-arthritic potential than Tachyspermum ammi. In-silico analysis further
revealed that compounds of Thymus serpyllum showed better binding energies with both
hub genes as compared to Tachyspermum ammi. In conclusion, Thymus serpyllum is a
much more potent anti-arthritic medicinal plant than Tachyspermum ammi and can be
further tested using in-vitro and in-vivo approaches.
