Hydroxycoumarins and some Flavonoids from Pistacia atlantica Desf. as Multi-targets Inhibitors for Alzheimer's Disease: Molecular Docking and ADMET Studies

Abstract

Objective: The present study aimed to identify new selective inhibitors for acetylcholinesterase, butyrylcholinesterase, monoacylglycerol lipase, beta-secretase, and Asparagine endopeptidase, the targets enzymes in Alzheimer's disease.

Methods: The inhibitory effect of P. atlantica Desf. methanol extracts against AChE were determined using Ellman's method. The molecular docking study is achieved using Autodock Vina. The structures of the molecules 3-methoxycarpachromene, masticadienonic acid, 7-ethoxycoumarin, 3',5,7- trihydroxy-4'-methoxyflavanone and 5,6,7,4'-tetrahydroxyflavonol-3-O-rutinoside and the five enzymes were obtained from the PubChem database and Protein databank. ADMET parameters were checked to confirm their pharmacokinetics using swiss-ADME and ADMET-SAR servers.

Results: P. atlantica Desf. methanol extracts showed a notable inhibitory effect against AChE (IC₅₀ = 0.26 ± 0.004 mg/ml). The molecular docking results of 3-methoxycarpachromene, masticadienonic acid, 7-ethoxycoumarin, 3',5,7-trihydroxy-4'-methoxyflavanone and 5,6,7,4'-tetrahydroxyflavonol-3-Orutinoside with the five enzymes show significant affinities of these molecules towards Alzheimer disease targets, where they could form several interactions, such as hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions with the studied enzymes. The shortest hydrogen bond is 1.7 A° between masticadienonic acid and Arg128 of the active site of BACE, while the lowest free energy is -11.2 of the complex 5,6,7,4'-tetrahydroxyflavonol-3-O-rutinoside -HuBchE. To the best of our knowledge, these molecules' potential anti-Alzheimer disease effect is studied in this paper for the first time.

Conclusion: The docking studies of this work show that 3-methoxycarpachromene and masticadienonic acid, 7-ethoxycoumarin, 3',5,7-Trihydroxy-4'-methoxyflavanone and 5,6,7,4'-tetrahydroxyflavonol- 3-O-rutinoside have good affinities towards the enzymes involved in Alzheimer pathology, which confirm the ability of these molecules to inhibit the studied enzymes namely: HuAChE, HuBChE, BACE, MAGL, and AEP. These molecules might become drug candidates to prevent Alzheimer's disease.

Keywords: 3-methoxycarpachromene; 7-ethoxycoumarin; ADMET study; Alzheimer’s target enzymes; Pistacia atlantica; flavonoids; masticadienonic acid; molecular docking.