This is an unedited manuscript accepted for publication and provided as an Article in Press for early access at the author’s request. The article will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and galley proof review before final publication. Please be aware that errors may be identified during production that could affect the content. All legal disclaimers of the journal apply.
Sidharth Pottangadi,
- Student, Department of Bioinformatics,Bionome, Karnataka, India
Abstract
Snakebite envenoming is a neglected health threat impacting millions of people each year especially in tropical and subtropical countries. Ethnomedicinal plants are sources of various bioactive compounds and have been utilised by several tribes across the world for centuries. Aristolochia indica is a perennial herb mentioned in the Indian Ayurveda with a long history of use against snake venom, scorpion venom, fevers, rheumatic arthritis, liver ailments, leishmaniasis etc. The major bioactive compound used as a traditional source of antivenom from this plant are Aristolochic acids and Aristolactam’s and have been recently found to be nephrotoxic and mutagenic. Here, we bring into attention other phytocompounds from A. indica with potential to act as antivenom proteins. Through docking using Autodock 4.0 it was found that phytocompounds from A. indica namely; Cubebin, Hinokinin, Ishwarol and Ledol possess high binding affinity towards major venom proteins. These phytocompounds were found to interact with the amino acid residues at the active site of venom proteins which could compromise its binding and function. Molecular Dynamic Simulations further determined the structural stability of L- amino acid oxidase-Cubebin complex. This study therefore provides insight into new compounds that have potential to replace the conventional snake antiserum therapy.
Keywords: Aristolochia indica, Phospholipase A2, Metalloproteinases, L- amino acid oxidase, three finger toxins.
Sidharth Pottangadi. Computational Exploration of Aristolochia indica Bioactive Compounds Against Snake Venom Proteins Using Docking and Dynamics Simulations. Research and Reviews : Journal of Computational Biology. 2026; 15(01):-.
Sidharth Pottangadi. Computational Exploration of Aristolochia indica Bioactive Compounds Against Snake Venom Proteins Using Docking and Dynamics Simulations. Research and Reviews : Journal of Computational Biology. 2026; 15(01):-. Available from: https://journals.stmjournals.com/rrjocb/article=2026/view=236880
References
- Waheed H, Moin SF, Choudhary MI. Snake Venom: From Deadly Toxins to Life-saving Therapeutics. Curr Med Chem [Internet]. 2017 July 4 [cited 2025 July 4];24(17). Available from: http://www.eurekaselect.com/152913/article
- Osipov A, Utkin Y. What Are the Neurotoxins in Hemotoxic Snake Venoms? Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Jan;24(3):2919.
- Casewell NR, Jackson TNW, Laustsen AH, Sunaga K. Causes and Consequences of Snake Venom Variation. Trends Pharmacol Sci. 2020 Aug 1;41(8):570–81.
- Protein complexes in snake venom – PMC [Internet]. [cited 2025 July 4]. Available from: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11115964/
- Sanhajariya S, Duffull SB, Isbister GK. Pharmacokinetics of Snake Venom. Toxins. 2018 Feb;10(2):73.
- Kalogeropoulos K, Treschow AF, auf dem Keller U, Escalante T, Rucavado A, Gutiérrez JM, et al. Protease Activity Profiling of Snake Venoms Using High-Throughput Peptide Screening. Toxins. 2019 Mar 19;11(3):170.
- Kini RM, Doley R. Structure, function and evolution of three-finger toxins: Mini proteins with multiple targets. Toxicon. 2010 Nov;56(6):855–67.
- Kasturiratne A, Wickremasinghe AR, de Silva N, Gunawardena NK, Pathmeswaran A, Premaratna R, et al. The Global Burden of Snakebite: A Literature Analysis and Modelling Based on Regional Estimates of Envenoming and Deaths. PLoS Med. 2008 Nov;5(11):e218.
- Modak BK, Gorai P, Pandey DK, Dey A, Malik T. An evidence based efficacy and safety assessment of the ethnobiologicals against poisonous and non-poisonous bites used by the tribals of three westernmost districts of West Bengal, India: Anti-phospholipase A2 and genotoxic effects. PLoS One. 2020;15(11):e0242944.
- Dey A, Hazra AK, Mukherjee A, Nandy S, Pandey DK. Chemotaxonomy of the ethnic antidote Aristolochia indica for aristolochic acid content: Implications of anti-phospholipase activity and genotoxicity study. J Ethnopharmacol. 2021 Feb 10;266:113416.
- Padhy GK. A Review of Aristolochia indica: Ethnomedicinal Uses, Phytochemistry, Pharmacological and Toxicological Effects. Curr Tradit Med. 2021 June 1;7(3):372–86.
- Bhattacharjee P, Bhattacharyya D. Characterization of the aqueous extract of the root of Aristolochia indica: Evaluation of its traditional use as an antidote for snake bites. J Ethnopharmacol. 2013 Jan 9;145(1):220–6.
- Jejurikar BL, Rohane SH. Drug designing in discovery studio. 2021 [cited 2025 July 3]; Available from: https://www.indianjournals.com/ijor.aspx?target=ijor:ajrc&volume=14&issue=2&article=008
- Kondapuram SK, Sarvagalla S, Coumar MS. Docking-based virtual screening using PyRx Tool: autophagy target Vps34 as a case study. In: Molecular docking for computer-aided drug design [Internet]. Elsevier; 2021 [cited 2025 July 3]. p. 463–77. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128223123000199
- Shafiq K M, Harish R. IDENTIFICATION OF PHYTOCOMPOUNDS FROM ARGEMONE MEXICANA AS INHIBITORS OF EPSTEIN-BARR NUCLEAR ANTIGEN TO COMBAT INFECTIOUS MONONUCLEOSIS. Innovare J Med Sci. 2023 Jan 2;9–14.
- Ravi DA, Hwang DH, Mohan Prakash RL, Kang C, Kim E. Indian Medicinal Plant-Derived Phytochemicals as Potential Antidotes for Snakebite: A Pharmacoinformatic Study of Atrolysin Inhibitors. Int J Mol Sci. 2024 Jan;25(23):12675.
- Choudhury M, McCleary RJR, Kini RM, Velmurugan D. Orphan Three-Finger Toxins Bind at Tissue Factor–Factor VIIa Interface to Inhibit Factor X Activation: Identification of Functional Site by Docking. TH Open. 2018 Sept 26;02:e303–14.
- Ononamadu CJ, Ibrahim A. Molecular docking and prediction of ADME/drug-likeness properties of potentially active antidiabetic compounds isolated from aqueous-methanol extracts of Gymnema sylvestre and Combretum micranthum. BioTechnologia. 2021 Mar 31;102(1):85–99.
- Wessler JD, Grip LT, Mendell J, Giugliano RP. The P-Glycoprotein Transport System and Cardiovascular Drugs. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2013 June 25;61(25):2495–502.
- Trento MVC, Sales TA, De Abreu TS, Braga MA, Cesar PHS, Marques TR, et al. Exploring the structural and functional aspects of the phospholipase A2 from Naja spp. Int J Biol Macromol. 2019 Nov;140:49–58.
- Yang CC. Structure-Function Relationship of Phospholipase A2 From Snake Venoms. J Toxicol Toxin Rev. 1994 Jan;13(2):125–77.
- First structure of a snake venom metalloproteinase: a prototype for matrix metalloproteinases/collagenases. [Internet]. [cited 2025 July 11]. Available from: https://www.embopress.org/doi/epdf/10.1002/j.1460-2075.1993.tb06099.x?_gl=1*8xbk8q*_ga*MTE0MjQ2Njc5MC4xNzUyMTQwNDA2*_up*MQ..*_ga_D692E1CL8S*czE3NTIxNDA0MDYkbzEkZzAkdDE3NTIxNDA0MDYkajYwJGwwJGgw
- Structural, Functional and Therapeutic Aspects of Snake Venom Metalloproteinases | Bentham Science Publishers [Internet]. [cited 2025 July 11]. Available from: https://www.benthamdirect.com/content/journals/mroc/10.2174/1570193X1101140402100707
- Ullah A. Structure–Function Studies and Mechanism of Action of Snake Venom L-Amino Acid Oxidases. Front Pharmacol [Internet]. 2020 Feb 25 [cited 2025 July 11];11. Available from: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/articles/10.3389/fphar.2020.00110/full
- Roy A, Zhou X, Chong MZ, D’hoedt D, Foo CS, Rajagopalan N, et al. Structural and Functional Characterization of a Novel Homodimeric Three-finger Neurotoxin from the Venom of Ophiophagus hannah (King Cobra) * ♦. J Biol Chem. 2010 Mar 12;285(11):8302–15.
- Kumar TKS, Jayaraman G, Lee CS, Arunkumar AI, Sivaraman T, Samuel D, et al. Snake Venom Cardiotoxins-Structure, Dynamics, Function and Folding. J Biomol Struct Dyn. 1997 Dec;15(3):431–63.
- Ogunyemi BT, Abdul-Hammed M, Adedotun IO, Egunjobi BT, Badmos ST, Adegboyega TA, et al. Protein–ligand molecular dynamics simulation (PL-MDS), ADMET analyses, and bioactivity studies of phytochemicals from Aloe Vera: an In-Silico novel antidiabetics drug discovery effort. Discov Chem. 2025 Mar 25;2(1):55.
- Dasmahapatra U, Kumar CK, Das S, Subramanian PT, Murali P, Isaac AE, et al. In-silico molecular modelling, MM/GBSA binding free energy and molecular dynamics simulation study of novel pyrido fused imidazo[4,5-c]quinolines as potential anti-tumor agents. Front Chem. 2022 Sept 30;10:991369.
- Dasmahapatra U, Kumar CK, Das S, Subramanian PT, Murali P, Isaac AE, et al. In-silico molecular modelling, MM/GBSA binding free energy and molecular dynamics simulation study of novel pyrido fused imidazo[4,5-c]quinolines as potential anti-tumor agents. Front Chem. 2022 Sept 30;10:991369.

Research and Reviews : Journal of Computational Biology
| Volume | 15 |
| 01 | |
| Received | 02/11/2025 |
| Accepted | 07/02/2026 |
| Published | 14/02/2026 |
| Publication Time | 104 Days |
Login
PlumX Metrics