Unlocking the Potential of Senna holosericea as a Treatment for COVID-19: Combined In Silico and Experimental Validation with Comprehensive Phytochemical Profiling | ||
Egyptian Journal of Chemistry | ||
Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript, Available Online from 26 August 2025 | ||
Document Type: Original Article | ||
DOI: 10.21608/ejchem.2025.401537.12011 | ||
Authors | ||
Mohamed A. Diab* 1; usama shaheen2; zeinab I. Elsayed3; Lotfy D. Ismail4 | ||
1Pharmacognosy department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Sinai University - Arish Branch, Arish, 45511, Egypt. | ||
2Pharmacognosy Department, Faculty of Pharmacy (Boys), Al-Azhar University, Cairo 11884, Egypt | ||
3Pharmacognosy Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Zagazig 44519, Sharqia, Egypt | ||
4Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy (Boys), Al-Azhar University, Cairo, 11884, Egypt Pharmacognosy Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Sinai University - Arish Branch, Arish, 45511, Egypt. | ||
Abstract | ||
Senna holosericea is underexplored chemically and biologically, Although the genus is known for diverse pharmacologically active metabolites. Given the global impact of COVID-19, this study aimed to profile the phytochemicals of S. holosericea, evaluate its antiviral potential, and identify lead compounds. Phytochemical profiling of 70 % methanolic S. holosericea extract resulted in tentative identification of a total 52 compounds in both ESI negative and positive modes. The identified compounds with high relative percentages were previously shown to have in silico anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity in earlier studies. So, anti-SARS-CoV-2 performed experimentally on total extract showed promising activity with IC50 = 35.39 µg/ml and CC50 = 570 µg/ml. The fractions of total extract were tested in vitro against COVID-19 showed IC50 values of (1.031 µg/ml) for methylene chloride fraction, (2.748 µg/ml) for ethyl acetate fraction and (336.2 µg/ml) for butanol fraction. Ethyl acetate fraction was repeatedly chromatographed to afford five compounds: kaempferol 1, rhein 2, aloe-emodin-8-O- β -D-glucopyranoside 3, aloe-emodin-ω-O-β-D-glucopyranoside 4 and isorhamnetin-3-O-β-D-glucoside 5. In silico studies were performed on the isolated compounds on COVID-19 (6LU7 main protease) and rhein was selected as a potential candidate for further In vitro study That showed IC50 = 53.55 µg/ml and CC50 = 664 µg/ml. | ||
Keywords | ||
Senna holosericea; UHPLC/QTOF-MS/MS; COVID-19; MTT Assay; Rhein | ||
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