In silico Analysis and Antioxidant Activity of Flavonoids from Tinospora cordifolia Targeting α-Synuclein of Parkinson’s Disease

In silico Analysis and Antioxidant Activity of Flavonoids from Tinospora cordifolia Targeting α-Synuclein of Parkinson’s Disease Jayashree Pandurangan https://orcid.org/0009-0008-6957-9256 Hanishka Pothiraj https://orcid.org/0009-0002-5692-0386 Meenambiga Setti Sudharsan https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5445-525X

This study investigates the neuroprotective potential of flavonoid-rich Tinospora cordifolia extract in targeting α-synuclein using a multidisciplinary approach combining in silico, network pharmacology and antioxidant analyses. Ethanolic extract of T. cordifolia was subjected to GC-MS analysis, identifying 130 phytocompounds. These compounds were screened for drug-likeness and pharmacokinetics using Lipinski’s rule of five and ADMET profiling. Network pharmacology identified hub genes such as SNCA, PARK7 and LRRK2, confirming the relevance of selected targets to Parkinson’s disease. Molecular docking studies were conducted against α-synuclein protein (PDB ID: 3Q27), revealing that N,1-dimethyl-4-piperidinamine, exhibited the highest binding affinity (-7.32 kcal/mol), outperforming the standard drug levodopa (-5.98 kcal/mol). Antioxidant potential of T. cordifolia was assessed using DPPH and FRAP assays. The DPPH assay showed strong radical scavenging activity, with up to 85% inhibition at 500 µg/mL, surpassing the standard quercetin. In contrast, FRAP results indicated lower ferric reducing power (~25%), suggesting selective antioxidant mechanisms. The results demonstrate that T. cordifolia contains bioactive compounds with promising neuroprotective, antioxidant and pharmacological properties that could be leveraged for multi-targeted intervention in Parkinson’s disease. These findings support further investigation and development of T. cordifolia-based therapeutic candidates.
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