Abstract
This work investigated the effects of the bioflavonoid hesperetin-7-rhamnoglucoside isolated from Citrus uranium fruit peel on Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori). Separation and purity, crystalline state, and urease inhibition assays were carried out. Then, molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were conducted with urease as the target protein. Hesp was isolated from citrus peel with a purity of 95.14 µg mg-1 of dry raw material. X-ray diffraction analysis, hydrogen-1 nuclear magnetic resonance, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry revealed that pure Hesp had the same crystallinity rating as the Hesp standard. The kinetic inhibition study demonstrated that Hesp inhibited H. pylori urease in a competitive and concentration-dependent manner with jack bean urease. In addition, bioimaging studies with laser scanning confocal microscopy and scanning electron microscopy illustrated that Hesp interacted with bacterial cells and induced membrane disruption by creating holes in the outer membranes of the bacterial cells, resulting in the leakage of amino acids. Importantly, molecular docking and 20 ns MD simulations revealed that Hesp inhibited the target protein through slow-binding inhibition and hydrogen bond interactions with active site residues, namely, Gly11 (O⋯H distance = 2.2 Å), Gly13 (O⋯H distance = 2.4 Å), Ser12 (O⋯H distance = 3.3 Å), Lys14 (O⋯H distance = 3.3 Å), and Arg179 (O⋯H distance = 2.7 Å). This work presents novel anti- H. pylori agents from natural sources.