Polyphenolic profile, hepatoprotective evaluation, and molecular docking study of three palm tree species (Family Arecaceae)

Arecaceae species are renowned in traditional medicine for treating inflammation and liver disorders. Herein, we aimed to identify the phenolic constituents and the hepatoprotective potential of the aqueous methanol extract (AME) of Aiphanes eggersii, Carpoxylon macrospermum, and Jubaeopsis caffra leaves, in a drug-induced liver injury in vivo model. The AMEs are considered safe until the maximum tested dose (5 g/kg). The two selected screening doses, 500 and 1000 mg/kg, displayed antioxidant activity with significant (P < 0.05) decline in the liver/body weight ratios (19.1–29.7%), liver enzymes (25.9–63.4%), and malondialdehyde (39.3–63.8%), while increasing reduced glutathione (2.1–3.2 folds) and superoxide dismutase (2.2–3.1 folds). Moreover, they demonstrated a significant anti-inflammatory effect (P < 0.05) with decline in NF-KB p65 (32.7–64.5%), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (24.9–64.4%), and interleukin-1β (18.7–64.2%). Ultimately, significant (P < 0.05) antiapoptotic effects from the declined BAX (31.8–65.6%) and caspase-3 (23–69%), while increasing Bcl2 (2.7–5.7 folds). Ultimately, the histopathological investigation showed obvious hepatoprotective efficacy. The HPLC–MS/MS profiling revealed high phenolic content. As key phenolic attributes, chlorogenic acid is major in C. macrospermum and J. caffra, while vanillic in A. eggersii. Rutin is the principal flavonol in the three extracts (365.852–57970.205 μg/Kg), followed by hyperoside (62.764–7379.297 μg/Kg) and hesperidin (1225.976–1575.550 μg/Kg). The docking results show that rutin and hesperidin achieved the best fitting to SOD-1, with binding scores of -8.24 and -8.36 kcal/mol, while -8.0671 and -7.1735 kcal/mol with caspase-3, respectively with stable conformations revealed by 100 ns MD. In all, the investigated species exert significant hepatoprotective activity, at least partly, to their constitutive flavonoids and phenolic acids. However, further clinical investigation is still needed.