n vivo Antidiarrheal and Molecular Docking Studies of a Coumarin from the Root Extract of Impatiens ethiopica Grey-Wilson (Balsaminaceae)
| dc.contributor.advisor | Bisrat,Daniel(PhD) | |
| dc.contributor.advisor | Tadesse,Solomon(PhD) | |
| dc.contributor.author | Yimer,Sileshi | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-08-13T08:13:37Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-08-13T08:13:37Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2023-11 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Diarrhea continues to be a major health problem worldwide, particularly in developing countries like Ethiopia. In Ethiopia, as in many other developing nations, traditional medicine plays a significant role in healthcare, with people relying on the therapeutic properties of plants to treat various infectious diseases. One such plant is Impatiens ethiopica, a member of the Impatiens genus traditionally used for the treatment of diarrhea. Thus, the present study was aimed to investigate the potential antidiarrheal effects of 80% hydroalcoholic root extract of I. ethiopica and its major constituents using both in vivo models integrated with molecular docking studies. Three experimental models, such as intestinal transit, intestinal secretion and castor oil-induced mice models, were employed to determine the effects of the root extract, fractions, and the isolated compound. The findings of the study revealed that the root extract significantly reduced the frequency of defecation, the weight of feces, and the onset of diarrhea at 100 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg, and 400 mg/kg. Additionally, the root extract exhibited significant reduction in intestinal fluid accumulation and gastrointestinal (GI) motility. The active root extract was then divided into four fractions based on solubility-based fractionations, utilizing successively petroleum ether, chloroform, methanol, and water solubility as the basis for separation. Of these fractions, the methanol and water fractions demonstrated a dose-dependent antidiarrheal effect, with the methanol fraction exhibiting the highest activity at a dose of 400 mg/kg. Further fractionation of ii the active methanol fraction by normal-phase column chromatography led to the isolation a coumarin, coded as SY-1. The structure of SY-1 was identified as 7-hydroxy-6- methoxycoumarin (7-hydroxy-6-methoxy-2H-chromen-2-one), commonly known as scopoletin, on the basis of various spectroscopic techniques (ESI-MS, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and DEPT-135 spectral data). The antidiarrheal effects of scopoletin were also evaluated, demonstrating a significant reduction in intestinal fluid accumulation and gastrointestinal (GI) motility at the doses of 10 mg/kg, 20 mg/kg and 40 mg/kg. In this study, prostaglandin synthase (PGS) was chosen as a target for molecular docking analysis. Assessing scopoletin interaction with prostaglandin synthase (PGS) (COX-2; PDB ID: 4COX) revealed a promising docking score of −7.941 kcal/mol. Scopoletin demonstrated a strong binding affinity, engaging in hydrogen bonding with SER530 and pi-pi stacking interactions with TYR385 and TRP387, at specific COX-2 binding sites. These findings highlight that the antidiarrheal-like activity of I. ethiopica was partly attributed due to the presence of scopoletin. Overall, these results provide validation for the traditional use of I. ethiopica roots in the treatment of diarrhea and highlight the potential of scopoletin as antidiarrheal compound. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/6734 | |
| dc.language.iso | en_US | |
| dc.publisher | Addis Ababa University | |
| dc.subject | In vivo Antidiarrheal | |
| dc.subject | Impatiens ethiopica | |
| dc.subject | coumarin | |
| dc.subject | castor oil | |
| dc.subject | intestinal secretion | |
| dc.subject | gastrointestinal motility | |
| dc.subject | molecular docking | |
| dc.subject | 7-hydroxy-6-methoxycoumarin | |
| dc.subject | scopoletin | |
| dc.title | n vivo Antidiarrheal and Molecular Docking Studies of a Coumarin from the Root Extract of Impatiens ethiopica Grey-Wilson (Balsaminaceae) | |
| dc.type | Thesis |