In-Vitro and In-Silico Studies of Brevifoliol Ester Analogues against Insulin Resistance Condition

Background: Brevifoliol is a diterpenoid that occurs naturally in the plants of Taxus genus and is widely used as chemotherapy agent for the management of cancer. A series of semisynthetic esters analogues of brevifoliol were prepared by Steglich esterification and attempted for their pharmacological potential against insulin resistance conditions using in-vitro and in-silico assays.

Objective: The aim of this study is to understand the pharmacological potential of eighteen semisynthetic analogs through Steglich esterification of Brevifoliol against insulin resistance condition Methods: In the in-vitro study, insulin resistance condition was induced in skeletal muscle cells using TNF-α, pro-inflammatory cytokine and these cells were treated with brevifoliol analogues. The most potent analouge was further validated using in-silico docking study against the tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) (PDB ID: 2AZ5) and Human Insulin Receptor (PDB ID: 1IR3), using the Auto dock Vina v0.8 program.

Results: Although, all the analogues of Brevifoliol significantly exhibited the pharmacological potential. Among all, analogue 17 was most potent in reversing the TNF-α induced insulin resistance condition in skeletal muscle cells and also to inhibit the production of TNF-α in LPSinduced inflammation in macrophage cells in a dose-dependent manner. Similarly, in-silico molecular docking studies revealed that analogue 17 possesses a more promising binding affinity than the selected control drug metformin toward the TNF-α and insulin receptor.

Conclusion: These findings suggested the suitability of analogue 17 as a drug-like candidate for further investigation toward the management of insulin resistance conditions.