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The present study on Phyllanthus virgatus, known traditionally for its remedial potential, for the first time provides descriptions of the antioxidant and inhibition of α-amylase enzyme activity first by in vitro analyses, followed by a confirmatory in silico study to create a stronger biochemical rationale. Our results illustrated that P. virgatus methanol extract exhibited strong antioxidant and oxidative DNA damage protective activity than other extracts, which was well correlated with its total phenolic content. In addition, P. virgatus methanol extract strongly inhibited the α-amylase activity (IC50 33.20 ± 0.556?µg/mL), in a noncompetitive manner, than acarbose (IC50 76.88 ± 0.277?µg/mL), which showed competitive inhibition. Moreover, this extract stimulated the glucose uptake activity in 3T3-L1 cells and also showed a good correlation between antioxidant and α-amylase activities. The molecular docking studies of the major bioactive compounds (9,12-octadecadienoic acid, asarone, 11-octadecenoic acid, and acrylic acid) revealed via GC-MS analysis from this extract mechanistically suggested that the inhibitory property may be due to the synergistic effect of these bioactive compounds. These results provide substantial basis for the future use of P. virgatus methanol extract and its bioactive compound in in vivo system for the treatment and management of diabetes as well as in the related condition of oxidative stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypercholesterolemia-induced oxidative stress has been strongly implicated in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, which is one of the major causes of mortality worldwide. The current work, for the first time, accounts the antioxidant, genoprotective, antilipoperoxidative, and HMG-CoA reductase (EC 1.1.1.34) inhibitory properties of traditional medicinal plant, Ficus palmata Forsk. Our result showed that among sequentially extracted fractions of Ficus palmata Forsk, FPBA (F. palmata bark aqueous extract) and FPLM (F. palmata leaves methanolic extract) extracts have higher phenolic content and also exhibited significantly more radical scavenging (DPPH and Superoxide) and antioxidant (FRAP) capacity. Moreover, FPBA extract also exhibited significantly higher inhibition of lipid peroxidation assay. Additionally, results showed almost complete and partial protection of oxidatively damaged DNA by these plant extracts when compared to mannitol. Furthermore, our results showed that FPBA extract (IC50 = 9.1 ± 0.61 µg/mL) exhibited noteworthy inhibition of HMG-CoA reductase activity as compared to other extracts, which might suggest its role as cardioprotective agent. In conclusion, results showed that FPBA extract not only possess significant antioxidant and genoprotective property but also is able to attenuate the enzymatic activity of HMG-CoA reductase, which might suggest its role in combating various oxidative stress-related diseases, including atherosclerosis.