Abstract
BACKGROUND: Dengue virus (DENV) does not have any effective antiviral therapy. The Cinnamomum verum has cinnamic acid and oleic acid that could inhibit important viral proteins. AIM: To compare their inhibitory capacity with the key DENV proteins through molecular docking, molecular dynamics and in silico ADMET. METHODS: Phytochemical profiling of the ethanolic extract of the bark was done by GCMS. AutoDock Vina (version 1.2.0) was used to dock cinnamic acid and oleic acid to key proteins of DENV (NS5, NS3, and envelope) in the presence of ribavirin as the reference. The best complexes were then subjected to 50 ns of molecular dynamics simulation and stability measured by RMSD, RMSF, Rg, SASA, hydrogen bonding and RDF. Validated in silico tools were used to predict the ADMET properties. RESULTS: Analysis of GC-MS revealed cinnamic acid (85.92%) and oleic acid (5.33%). The outcome of docking was that the cinnamic acid had the greatest affinity with NS5 (-5.970 kcal/mol) and the capsid protein (-5.755 kcal/mol), and oleic acid showed the highest affinity with the capsid (-6.150 kcal/mol) and then with NS5 (-5.209 kcal/mol). Both ligands had a relatively weak interaction with NS3. Simulation of the molecular dynamics showed the stability of the top complexes, especially the cinnamic acid-NS5 complex, that retained low RMSD (1.6-1.9 A), stable Rg and SASA profiles, and continued hydrogen bonding during the 50 ns period. The use of cinnamic acid in ADMET projections was more preferable, as it was more soluble, orally bioavailable (0.91), and drug-like (QED 0.65), but oleic acid revealed higher lipophilicity and lower drug-like properties (QED 0.29). CONCLUSIONS: Cinnamic acid showed specificity towards the NS5 proteins with the help of stable dynamics and good predicted pharmacokinetics, which are features that make it a promising multi-target anti-DENV scaffold. Oleic acid exhibited poor affinity and poor pharmacokinetic properties. The findings are predictive and must be validated using biochemical, cellular, and toxicological means to prove the antiviral efficacy and safety.