Anti-Inflammatory, Thrombolytic and Hair-Growth Promoting Activity of the n-Hexane Fraction of the Methanol Extract of Leea indica Leaves
Shahenur Alam Sakib, Abu Montakim Tareq, Ameerul Islam, Ahmed Rakib, Mohammad Nazmul Islam, Mohammad Arafat Uddin, Md. Masudur Rahman, Véronique Seidel, Talha Bin Emran
Abstract
The anti-inflammatory, thrombolytic, and hair growth-promoting activity of the n-hexane fraction from the methanol extract of Leea indica (NFLI) leaves was investigated. NFLI showed significant inhibition of hemolysis and protein denaturation, and exhibited a concentration-dependent thrombolytic activity. When applied topically to mice at concentrations of 10, 1, 0.1%, NFLI demonstrated a significant increase in average hair length (p < 0.001) compared with untreated animals. NFLI (1% concentration) exhibited the highest percentage of hair regrowth on day 7, 14 and 21 (81.24, 65.60, and 62.5%, respectively). An in silico study was further conducted to predict the binding affinity of phytochemicals previously reported in L. indica towards PGD2 synthase (PDB ID: 2VD1), an enzyme that catalyses the isomerisation of prostaglandin H2 to PGD2 which is involved in hair loss. Phthalic acid, farnesol, n-tricosane, n-tetracosane, and n-heptacosane showed the best ligand efficiencies towards PGD2 synthase and their intermolecular interactions were visualised using BIOVIA Discovery Studio Visualizer. Our results indicate that L. indica could represent a promising natural alternative to tackle alopecia.