Chukwuemerie Ogechukwu Lucy^*1, Onyeogulu Nkem Ngozi², Anyadioha Cynthia ³,

 Onyeogulu Ahamefuna Obumneme⁴, Umeononihu Osita⁵, Ejiofor InnocentMary⁶

^1,6,3 Department of Pharmacognosy and Traditional Medicine Nnamdi Azikiwe University,

² Checkpharm Pharmaceuticals Awka Anambra State,

⁴ Department of Internal Medicine University of Abuja Teaching Hospital,

⁵ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Nnamdi Azikiwe Teaching Hospital Nnewi Anambra State. 

DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.47191/ijahm/v14i5.13

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ABSTRACT: 

Introduction/Background of study: Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer deaths among women, accounting for more deaths than any other female gynaecological cancer, which includes cervical, uterine, vaginal and vulvar cancers. Current treatment options include surgery, platinum-based chemotherapy, radiation therapy and the use of targeted therapy such as poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP inhibitors), as well as immunotherapy. These therapy options, however, are subject to high rates of resistance and many side effects.

AIM/ OBJECTIVES: This research aims to study other viable drug targets for ovarian cancer treatment, as well as new phytocompounds that can serve as new drug options using the in-silico approach.

Materials/Methods: The ethanolic leaf extract of Justicia secunda was obtained using conventional methods. Liquid Liquid-liquid fractionation was performed with N-hexane, ethyl acetate and butanol solvents to obtain their fractions alongside the aqueous fraction. Vacuum Liquid Chromatography was performed with the N-hexane fraction and gradient mixtures of N-hexane/ethyl acetate and Dichloromethane/Methanol in various ratios to obtain the subfractions. The compounds were identified using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). Full pharmacognostic profiling was performed on the J.secunda leaves. The identified compounds were downloaded from Pubchem and subjected to Molecular docking simulations to obtain their binding affinities with the receptors of interest. Drug-likeness and toxicity assessments were performed on frontrunner compounds.

Results: After assessment of the frontrunner compounds, four multitargeting J.secunda phytochemicals were identified: Luteolin, Diosmetin, 5H-Quindoline and 10H-Quindoline.

Conclusion: This study shows that some phytocompounds in J.secunda have better binding affinities and possibly better interaction against RTKs overexpressed in ovarian cancer, when compared to the reference drugs currently in use. Further in-vitro and in-vivo studies are recommended to ascertain if these compounds have any inhibitory activity against these receptor tyrosine kinases.

KEYWORDS: Justicia secunda, Ovarian cancer, RTKs, ligands, receptors, phytocompounds.

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