Phytochemical profiling and anti-inflammatory potential of Ficus natalensis subsp. leprieurii (Miq.) CC Berg - an in vitro, in vivo and in silico study

Inflammation is immune response of body against foreign toxic substances. Chronic inflammation is associated with diabetes, heart diseases, arthritis and cancer. The present study aims to investigate anti-inflammatory potential of plant Ficus natalensis subspecies leprieurii. Various extracts of leaves of F. natalensis were investigated for bioactive phytochemicals and screened using in vitro activities of anti-inflammatory. In vivo study of anti-inflammatory potential was also conducted by using method of carrageenan induced paw edema. This plant showed potential in vitro protein denaturation assay of anti-inflammatory activity. In vivo assay revealed that n-hexane extract exhibited the maximum percentage inhibition of paw volume (83.49%) as compared to standard drug used. GC-MS analysis of n-hexane extract exhibited tentative identification of bioactive phytochemicals which were further evaluated for their activity by using molecular docking. The results suggested that gamma tocopherol has the highest binding affinity with BSA. The results concluded that F. natalensis has medicinal importance and promising anti-inflammatory potential.