In silico Therapeutic Potential of Phytochemical from Commiphora leptophloeos Mart. - J. B. Gillett Leaves Essential Oil against COVID-19

• Published in: Journal of the Brazilian Chemical Society 2025, Vol.36 (2)
• Main Authors: Souza, Michel, Droppa-Almeida, Daniela, Kodel, Helena, Santos, Tatiane, Moraes, Ashlley, Krause, Laiza, Bjerk, Thiago
• Format: Article
• Language: eng ; por
• Subjects: CHEMISTRY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY
• ISSN: 0103-5053; 1678-4790; 1678-4790
• DOI: 10.21577/0103-5053.20240142

The in silico study aimed to suggest phytochemicals from Commiphora leptophloeos leaves essential oil as therapies against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) (or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, SARS-CoV-2). For that, we used molecular docking (MD), absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity (ADMET) parameters, and pharmacokinetic analysis. MD showed the presence of hydrophobic and hydrogen bonds for nine compounds. β-Selinene and bicyclogermacrene showed the best interaction values with the protein Mpro (ID: 6Y2F) (–5.9) and chimeric receptor complexed with its receptor human ACE2 (ID: 6VW1) (–6.1 and –5.5) proteins, as well as low gastrointestinal and high epithelial absorptions, medium permeability for Caco-2 cells and high epithelial permeability, low oral excretion, and were inhibitors of CYP2C19 and CYP2C9 enzymes. On the other hand, both were not permeable to the blood-brain barrier and inhibitors or substrates for glycoprotein-D, and showed carcinogenic potential, but only β-selinene was considered mutagenic. Although little bioavailable, both presented aspects structurally adequate, being compounds with moderate synthesis difficulty. Therefore, more analyses are necessary to evaluate the mechanism of action and unsatisfactory parameters foreseen in bioinformatic assays.