In-Silico Analysis Of Phytoconstituents As Potential Cox-2 Inhibitors For Rheumatoid Arthritis Therapy

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a long-term autoimmune disease which is associated to the
perennial inflammation in the joints which is catalyzed by enzymes such as COX-2. This
research work was conducted with the aim of assessing the presumable anti-arthritic effects
of six phytoconstituents, namely, EGCG, Boswellic acid, Withaferin A, Piperine, 6- Gingerol,
and Harmine via molecular docking against the COX- 2 protein (PDB ID: 5F19). Diclofenac
sodium was taken as a reference. Docking was carried out in Molegro Virtual Docker and
the analysis based on MolDock scores of success as well as hydrogen bond interaction.
EGCG in Camellia sinensis had the highest affinity (-148.025 MolDock score), then Boswellic
acid and Withaferin A that was better than the standard drug. These newer observations
indicate that the plant derived materials and particularly EGCG can be an effective and safer
COX-2 inhibitor in the treatment of RA. These computational insights ought to be further
validated in experiment.