Evaluation of antidiabetic activty of different extracts of Myristica fragrans houtt: In vitro and in silico studies

Abstract

Objective: This study is aimed to evaluate the antidiabetic effect of sequentially extracted (hexane, dichloromethane [DCM], ethyl acetate, and ethanol) Myristica fragrans houtt (mace) through in vitro and in silico studies. Methods: The in vitro antidiabetic effect of the sequentially extracted plant was evaluated for its alpha-amylase inhibitory activity, and the potential binding was studied by in silico studies using Schrödinger Maestro. Results: All extracts showed dose-dependent alpha-amylase inhibitory effect. At concentration 500 µg/ml, all the extracts showed more than 60% inhibition of the alpha-amylase enzyme and the highest inhibition (81.3%) at 500 µg/ml was observed in DCM extract of mace. Potential compounds were identified by in silico molecular docking studies of alpha-amylase with phytocomponents from DCM extract. Among the top three compounds from virtual screening, induced fit docking studies revealed 2,5-bis(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-3, and 4-dimethyloxolane possessed better binding affinity when compared with the drug metformin. Conclusion: The obtained in vitro and in silico results suggest that all extracts of M. fragrans may be used successfully for the management of diabetes mellitus.