The Active Compound of Bangle Essential Oil as Cyclooxygenase-2 (Cox-2) Inhibitor: In Silico Approach

Fever is a condition where the body temperature rises above normal or more than 37o C and also tend to be an initial clinical manifestation of the use of antipyretic drugs thatcause toxicity such as on the liver due to prolonged usage. Particularly, the bangle (Zingiber purpureum Roxb.) is one of the Zingiberaceae plants that contain essential oils used for the treatment of fever. Therefore, this researchaimed to identify active compounds which have antipyreticspotential with the in silico approach. The simulation of molecular docking showed 1,4-naphthalenedione-2-ethyl-3-hydroxy was able to attach to the binding site of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and interact withmain residues that constituted the active cavity of COX-2. While the simulation of molecular dynamics suggested thatthe bound compound was stable at 4 ns, that is the time taken. The binding free energiesexpected by the MM-PBSA method indicated the 1,4-naphthalenedione-2-ethyl-3-hydroxy had a higher affinity than a native ligand (2-[(2,6-dichloro-3-methyl-phenyl)-amino] benzoic acid, JMS) and paracetamol. This suggested its capacity for advancing as a new COX-2 inhibitor.