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Alchemilla viridiflora Rothm.: the potent natural inhibitor of angiotensin I-converting enzyme

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Abstract

Alchemilla viridiflora Rothm., Rosaceae is a herbaceous plant widespread in central Greece, Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Serbia with Kosovo. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis leads to the identification of 20 compounds in methanol extract, mainly ellagitannins and flavonoid glycosides. Given that various plant extracts have traditionally been used to treat hypertension and that some of the analyzed methanol extract constituents have beneficial cardiovascular effects, we hypothesized that some of these effects are achieved by inhibiting angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE). The dose-dependent ACE inhibitory activities of A. viridiflora and miquelianin were observed with an IC50 of 2.51 ± 0.00 µg/mL of A. viridiflora extract compared to the IC50 of 5.4139 ± 0.00 µM for miquelianin. The contribution of the single compounds to the tested activity was further analyzed through the in silico experimental approach. Computational docking results showed that tiliroside, ellagic acid pentose and galloyl-hexahydroxydiphenoyl-glucose exhibited even better binding affinity for the ACE active site than miquelianin, for which ACE activity was confirmed by an in vitro assay.

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Funding

This research was funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Republic of Serbia through Grant Agreement with University of Belgrade-Faculty of Pharmacy No: 451-03-9/2021-14/200161.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacognosy, University of Belgrade-Faculty of Pharmacy, Belgrade, Serbia

    Jelena Radović & Tatjana Kundaković-Vasović

  2. Department of Pharmacognosy, University of Banja Luka-Faculty of Medicine, Banja Luka, Republic of Srpska

    Relja Suručić

  3. Natural History Museum, Njegoševa 51, Belgrade, Serbia

    Marjan Niketić

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  1. Jelena Radović
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  2. Relja Suručić
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  4. Tatjana Kundaković-Vasović
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All authors JR, RS, MN and TK contributed to the study conception and design. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Tatjana Kundaković-Vasović.

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Radović, J., Suručić, R., Niketić, M. et al. Alchemilla viridiflora Rothm.: the potent natural inhibitor of angiotensin I-converting enzyme. Mol Cell Biochem 477, 1893–1903 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11010-022-04410-7

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