Phytochemistry of Plants in The Genus Vepris: A Review and in Silico Analysis of Their ADMET Properties

Abstract

The natural product remains a significant origin of bioactive compounds and therapeutic candidates due to their distinctive chemical structures and generally favorable metabolic and pharmacokinetic characteristics. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number of review articles detailing plants’ phytochemistry and pharmacological properties within a certain genus. Additionally, databases for natural products have been increasing exponentially. However, the systematized ADME/Tox (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity) profile has only been discussed on a limited basis. The in-silico evaluation of the drug-like characteristics of isolated compounds from the genus Vepris is discussed in this review. The genus Vepris consists of over 80 species endemic in tropical regions of Africa and Asia. These plants are used ethnomedicinally for managing rheumatism, malaria, eye problem, pneumonia, headache, influenza, coughs, cardiac pains, leishmaniasis, and infertility. As a result of this broad usage, scientists have tried to explore the chemistry of different species within this genus, with 208 compounds reported as of August 2022. This genus is endowed with alkaloids at 64.9% of the reported compounds. Other compounds include terpenoids (17.8%), Flavonoids (7.7%), steroids (6.4%), coumarins (1%), and other miscellaneous compounds accounting for 6.3%. Analysis of predicted drug-likeness indicates that 93.8% of the compounds obey Lipinski’s rule of 5, 92.8% are within the veber’s rule, and 76.9% obey Ghose’s rule. The ADME/Tox profile of these compounds shows that most of them have an acceptable profile and therefore have a high potential to be leads or drugs.