In vitro and in silico studies on the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential of Piperine extracted from Piper nigrum

Medicinal plants are known to host many bioactive compounds beneficial for humankind. Antioxidants are an important class of compounds that prevents the generation of reactive oxygen species, thereby preventing the aging and premature death of the cells. Inflammation is a natural body's response to fight against invading pathogens. Even though it helps protect our body, too much inflammation is undesirable. There is a quest for new molecules with minimal side effects. Our current study explored piperine's antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential extracted from the pepper. Initially, piperine was extracted from pepper plants using different solvents and ethanolic extract showed a positive result for piperine. Piperine was quantified and estimated to be 1.207 mg/mL. 10 mg/mL piperine showed anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties compared to diclofenac sodium and ascorbic acid used as standards. These results corroborated with the docking studies. The antioxidant property was evaluated using Cytochrome P450 family 2 subfamily C member 9 (Cytochrome P450 CYP2C9) and Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NAD(P)H) Oxidase. Piperine was bound to Cytochrome P450 CYP2C9 and NAD(P)H Oxidase enzyme with a binding energy of -7.9 kcal/mol and -6.2 kcal/mol respectively. The anti-inflammatory property was evaluated using Cyclooxygenase -2 (COX-2) enzyme. Piperine was bound to the COX-2 enzyme with a -6.2kcal/mol binding energy. We observed that piperine has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.