Natural products continue to provide inspiring chemical moieties that represent a key stone in the drug discovery process. As per our previous research, the halophyte Agathophora alopecuroides was noted as a potential antidiabetic plant. However, the chemical profiling and highlighting the metabolite(s) responsible for the observed antidiabetic activity still need to be investigated. Accordingly, the present study presents the chemical profiling of this species using the LC-HRMS/MS technique followed by a study of the ligand-protein interaction using the molecular docking method. LC-HRMS/MS results detected twenty-seven compounds in A. alopecuroides extract (AAE) belonging to variable chemical classes. Among the detected compounds, alkaloids, flavonoids, lignans, and iridoids were the most prevailing. In order to highlight the bioactive compounds in AAE, the molecular docking technique was adopted. Results suggested that the two alkaloids (Eburnamonine and Isochondrodendrine) as well as the four flavonoids (Narirutin, Pelargonidin 3-O-rutinoside, Sophora isoflavanone A, and Dracorubin) were responsible for the observed antidiabetic activity. It is worth mentioning that this is the first report for the metabolomic profiling of A. alopecuroides as well as the antidiabetic potential of Isochondrodendrine, Sophora isoflavanone A, and Dracorubin that could be a promising target for an antidiabetic drug.
Keywords: Agathophora alopecuroides; LC-HRMS/MS; antidiabetic; molecular docking.