Phytochemical screening, psychopharmacological and memory-cognitive potentiality of the Stephania japonica methanolic extract: In vivo and in silico approaches

Abstract

Stephania japonica is a traditional medicinal plant, possesses many pharmacological activities which are reported already; however, the neuropharmacological efficacy is still unclear. Considering this, our study was designed to investigate the neurobehavioral, spatial learning-memory, and motor learning efficacies of the methanolic extract of S. japonica (MSJ) on mice. Phytochemical screening was performed through GC-MS analysis. Anxiolytic efficacy of MSJ was investigated through open field, hole cross, elevated plus maze, and hole board tests separately; whereas antidepressant efficacy was assessed using forced swim and tail suspension tests. Spatial learning and memory, and motor learning efficacies of the mice were investigated through Morris water maze test (MWMT) and single palate reaching task (SPRT) respectively. A dose-dependent significant anxiolytic and antidepressant efficacies (p<0.05) were found in MSJ-treated group. In MWMT, spending time increased significantly for the MSJ-treated mice compared to control (p<0.05). Besides, in SPRT, the average success rate brought on by ingesting of MSJ increased approx. 1.5 folds (p<0.05) compared to control, which resembles improvement of the positive neurocognitive effects in mice. In-silico modeling predicted that 3 bioactive compounds out of 18 (found from GC-MS analysis) exhibit favorable ADMET profiles and good docking scores with targeted receptors of AMPA, GABA, and NMDA; hence may responsible for the in-vivo effects. Based on the above results, it might be said that MSJ possess substantial anxiolytic-antidepressant, visuospatial learning, and motor skill-learning efficacies. Further studies are recommended to conduct the in-vivo neurological investigations and reveal the mechanisms of each phytoconstituents separately for the drug development program

Keywords

• Neuropharmacology
• Stephania japonica
• GC-MS
• Molecular docking

References

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