Journal of Innovations in Pharmaceutical and Biological Sciences

India's First Indigenously Developed Antibiotic, Nafithromycin, Aims to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance

2026-06-29T02:14:27-04:00

Computational Elucidation of the Antidiabetic Mechanism of Catechin and Apigenin via Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking

2026-06-29T05:11:51-04:00

Insulin resistance, poor glucose homeostasis, oxidative stress, inflammation, and pancreatic β-cell dysfunction are the hallmarks of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM), a chronic metabolic disease. The search for safer multitarget therapeutic agents made from natural products is necessary due to the rising incidence of type 2 diabetes and the drawbacks of traditional antidiabetic treatments. Apigenin and catechin have anti-inflammatory, antihyperglycemic, insulin-sensitizing, and antioxidant qualities. The current study examined the therapeutic mechanisms of apigenin and catechin against type 2 diabetes using integrated network pharmacology and molecular docking techniques. Protein-protein interaction (PPI), Gene Ontology (GO), and KEGG pathway enrichment studies were performed after T2DM-associated genes and potential phytochemical targets were found using publically accessible databases. Important hub genes linked to insulin signaling and glucose metabolism were found by network analysis, including PIK3R1, ESR1, AKT1, EGFR, and PTK2. PI3K-Akt and endocrine resistance pathways were significantly enriched, according to KEGG analysis. Catechin has a strong binding affinity for PIK3R1 (-6.1 kcal/mol) and AKT1 (-6.4 kcal/mol) according to molecular docking, whereas Apigenin had docking scores of -5.7 and -6.3 kcal/mol, respectively, when compared to Metformin. These results offer a scientific foundation for additional experimental confirmation and imply that catechin and apigenin may have antidiabetic effects through multitarget regulation.

Integrated Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking Analysis of Carvacrol and Paeonol against Hypertension

2026-06-29T05:23:40-04:00

Hypertension is a severe chronic cardiovascular condition characterized by oxidative stress, inflammation, endothelial dysfunction, and vascular remodeling. Natural phytochemicals have sparked widespread interest due to their multitarget therapeutic potential and attractive pharmacological characteristics. The current study used an integrated network pharmacology and molecular docking technique to evaluate the antihypertensive mechanisms of Carvacrol and Paeonol. SwissTargetPrediction and PubChem were used to identify potential phytochemical targets, while the GeneCards database was searched for hypertension-associated genes. Venn analysis was used to identify common targets, which were then used to create protein-protein interaction networks with STRING and Cytoscape. Gene Ontology and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis demonstrated a substantial role for calcium signaling pathways in hypertension control. Key overlapping targets were ALB, GSK3B, EP300, MAOB, MAOA, ACHE, SLC6A3, CA9, HDAC6, and PRKCA. Molecular docking analysis revealed that Carvacrol and Paeonol have good binding affinities for hypertension-associated target proteins 4N0F and 4J1R. Docking values for Carvacrol were -4.3 and -5.0 kcal/mol, whereas Paeonol had scores of -4.0 and -4.8 kcal/mol. These data indicate that both phytochemicals have prospective antihypertensive properties via multitarget interactions and pathway modification

Deciphering the Anticancer Mechanism of Naringenin and Berberine in Breast Cancer via Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking

2026-06-29T06:37:41-04:00

Breast cancer is one of the most frequent malignancies affecting women globally, and it remains a leading source of cancer-related morbidity and death. Despite major advances in conventional therapy, obstacles such as drug resistance, systemic toxicity, and poor therapeutic selectivity continue to restrict their effectiveness. As a result, the discovery of safer multitarget therapeutic molecules from natural sources has sparked significant scientific interest. The current study used an integrated network pharmacology and molecular docking technique to examine the therapeutic potential of Naringenin and Berberine against breast cancer. SwissTargetPrediction and PubChem were used to identify potential phytochemical targets, while the GeneCards database was searched for breast cancer-associated genes. Protein-protein interaction analysis and pathway enrichment studies revealed critical targets such as SRC, PIK3CA, PIK3CB, PIK3CD, CYP3A4, IGF1R, ESR1, and KDR, which are implicated in oxidative stress control, cell proliferation, endocrine resistance, and cancer progression pathways. Molecular docking research revealed that Naringenin and Berberine had favorable binding interactions with SRC (7A3D) and PIK3CA (2V1Y). Berberine had docking scores of -6.6 kcal/mol against SRC and -6.2 kcal/mol against PIK3CA, whereas Naringenin had scores of -5.8 kcal/mol and -6.9 kcal/mol, respectively, compared to the reference medication Alpelisib. These data point to the multitarget anticancer potential of these phytochemicals against breast cancer.

In Silico Elucidation of Molecular Mechanisms of Luteolin and Gramine against Parkinson’s Disease

2026-06-29T06:40:48-04:00

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative condition that causes dopaminergic neuronal loss, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, neuroinflammation, and α-synuclein aggregation. Natural phytochemicals have received attention because of their multitarget neuroprotective properties. The current study sought to assess the therapeutic mechanisms of Luteolin and Gramine against Parkinson's disease utilizing integrated network pharmacology and molecular docking methods. Potential Luteolin and Gramine targets were identified using SwissTargetPrediction and PubChem, respectively, whereas PD-associated genes were identified using GeneCards. STRING and Cytoscape were used to assess common targets, which were then enriched for Gene Ontology (GO) and KEGG pathways. Major targets found by network pharmacology include PIK3R1, PTK2, AKT1, EGFR, AKR1C3, IGF1R, CDK1, and CYP19A1, which are linked to oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, apoptosis, and neuronal survival. The dopaminergic synapse signaling pathway played a substantial role, according to KEGG analysis. Luteolin binds better to PIK3R1 (PDB: 6D85; -7.4 kcal/mol) and PTK2 (PDB: 4NY0; -7.6 kcal/mol) than Levodopa and Gramine, according to molecular docking analysis. The data imply that luteolin and gramine have neuroprotective effects in Parkinson's disease via modulating many targets and pathways.

Multi-Target Pharmacological Evaluation of Embelin and Piperine against Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking Study

2026-06-29T12:08:28-04:00

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory illness that causes synovial inflammation, cartilage degradation, joint deterioration, and increasing disability. Conventional medicinal techniques are frequently linked with side effects and poor long-term success, prompting the search for safer multitarget phytotherapeutics. The present study used an integrated network pharmacology and molecular docking technique to examine Embelin and Piperine's antiarthritic potential. SwissTargetPrediction and PubChem were used to identify potential Embelin and Piperine targets, while the GeneCards database was used to find rheumatoid arthritis-associated targets. To discover critical hub genes, common targets were studied using protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks. GO and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis revealed a considerable involvement of inflammatory and immune-regulatory pathways, notably the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. The Key hub genes discovered were HSP90AA1, SRC, PIK3CA, JAK2, PTK2, and MET. Piperine binds strongly to HSP90AA1 (-7.2 kcal/mol) and JAK2 (-7.5 kcal/mol), similar to the standard treatment Tofacitinib (-7.5 kcal/mol), according to a molecular docking investigation. Embelin had a positive affinity with HSP90AA1 (-6.1 kcal/mol) and JAK2 (-5.8 kcal/mol). These data indicate that Embelin and Piperine may have antiarthritic properties through multitarget regulation of inflammatory and immunological pathways.

Systems Pharmacology and Molecular Docking Investigation of Zingerone and Ellagic Acid as Potential Therapeutics for Oral Carcinogenesis

2026-06-29T12:11:40-04:00

Oral carcinogenesis is a complex multistep pathological process that includes oxidative stress, chronic inflammation, aberrant cell proliferation, apoptosis resistance, angiogenesis, and metastatic development. Despite advancements in chemotherapy and targeted medicines, oral cancer treatment remains difficult due to systemic toxicity, drug resistance, and a poor prognosis. As a result, naturally occurring phytochemicals with multitarget therapeutic potential have received significant interest in anticancer research. The current study sought to assess the synergistic therapeutic potential of Zingerone and Ellagic Acid against oral carcinogenesis by integrated computational techniques. A network pharmacology analysis was used to identify common molecular targets linked with oral cancer, followed by protein-protein interaction, Gene Ontology enrichment, and KEGG pathway studies to clarify the underlying molecular mechanisms. The integrated study demonstrated considerable involvement of pathways linked with oxidative stress, inflammation, apoptosis, angiogenesis, and tumor growth, such as the PI3K/Akt and ERBB signaling pathways. Ellagic Acid has a higher binding affinity to EGFR (-8.6 kcal/mol) and ERBB2 (-7.5 kcal/mol) than the conventional medication Erlotinib, demonstrating persistent ligand-protein interactions. Zingerone also demonstrated good binding interactions with both target proteins. The results show that the synergistic combination of Zingerone and Ellagic Acid could be a promising multitarget treatment strategy against oral carcinogenesis.

DrugRepur AI: An Explainable Knowledge Graph Embedding Platform for Drug Repurposing with Multi-Level Biological Validation

2026-06-29T12:14:33-04:00

Background: Most computational drug repurposing systems generate predictions without providing mechanistic justification, biological context, or clinical evidence. This disconnect between prediction and understanding limits practical adoption by pharmaceutical researchers. Objective: To design and validate an integrated platform combining knowledge graph embedding-based prediction with multi-level biological validation for drug repurposing hypothesis generation. Methods: A RotatE knowledge graph embedding model was trained on a DrugBank-derived knowledge graph containing 16,698 entities and 2.94 million relational triples using PyKEEN. The prediction engine was wrapped in a validation architecture comprising dual-tiered explainability (path-based and embedding-based reasoning), disease pathway analysis, drug target identification with druggability scoring, biomarker discovery via transcriptomic reversal analysis, chemical similarity search, ClinicalTrials.gov integration, literature mining, pharmacovigilance-based safety profiling, and novelty assessment. Results: Internal validation against RepoDB yielded an MRR of 0.422, Hits@10 of 65.4%, and AUC-ROC of 0.847. External validation against the independent PREDICT dataset produced Hits@10 of 40%, confirming cross-dataset generalization. Case studies on Metformin and Hydroxychloroquine demonstrated the system across known associations, novel embedding-based predictions, and path-supported hypotheses with convergent biological evidence from pathway, transcriptomic, and chemical similarity analyses. Conclusion: Knowledge graph embeddings, when integrated within structured biological validation, can produce drug repurposing hypotheses that are scientifically defensible and clinically contextualized. The multi-level evidence architecture transforms numerical predictions into testable scientific hypotheses suitable for guiding early-stage experimental investigation.

The Quality Evaluation of In-Vitro Antimicrobial, Antioxidant Effect of different Pharmaceutical Dosage Forms of Vitamin C Compounds

2026-06-29T12:18:03-04:00

Background: The quality of commercially available ascorbic acid preparations varies widely, raising concerns about substandard vitamin C products in the market. Since vitamin C exhibits both antimicrobial and antioxidant properties, evaluating these characteristics across different brands is essential for ensuring consumer safety and therapeutic effectiveness. Objective: This in vitro study aimed to assess the quality of various vitamin C formulations available in the market and to identify the type with superior antimicrobial and antioxidant activity. Materials and Methods: Six vitamin C products in tablet and effervescent dosage forms were purchased and coded as S2–S7, while pure ascorbic acid powder (S1) served as the standard. Ascorbic acid content was quantified using iodine redox titration and compared with S1. Antibacterial activity was evaluated using the agar diffusion method against standard Gram‑positive strains (Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923) and Gram‑negative strains (Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC 13883, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Proteus mirabilis ATCC 29906). Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were determined for each sample. Antioxidant activity was assessed using DPPH radical scavenging measured by UV–VIS spectrophotometry. Data were analyzed using one‑way ANOVA with significance set at p < 0.05. Results: ANOVA revealed significant differences among the tested products (p < 0.05). Sample S4 (Zein Pharma® Vitamin C 1000 mg with 10 mg zinc) showed the closest ascorbic acid content to the standard and demonstrated the largest inhibition zones against S. aureus, B. subtilis, P. aeruginosa, and E. coli at 100 mg/mL. S4 also exhibited the lowest MIC values across all tested strains. Additionally, S4 displayed synergistic enhancement of antioxidant activity compared with pure ascorbic acid. Conclusion: Vitamin C combined with zinc demonstrated superior product quality, stronger antimicrobial activity, and enhanced antioxidant potential compared with other tested formulations.

Nephrolithiasis: A Comprehensive Review of Pathophysiology, Clinical Presentation, and Management

2026-06-29T12:24:56-04:00

Nephrolithiasis affects approximately 12% of the global population with increasing prevalence linked to obesity, metabolic syndrome, and dietary factors. Calcium oxalate and calcium phosphate stones comprise 70–80% of cases, followed by uric acid (10–15%), struvite (10–15%), and cystine stones (<1%). Stone formation involves complex physicochemical processes including supersaturation, nucleation, crystal growth, and retention, with Randall's plaque serving as a critical nucleation site. Clinical presentation typically includes severe colicky pain, hematuria, and urinary symptoms, though asymptomatic cases occur. Non-contrast helical CT represents the diagnostic gold standard with 98% sensitivity. Management has evolved from open surgery to minimally invasive approaches including extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy, ureteroscopy, and percutaneous nephrolithotomy. Medical expulsive therapy with alpha-blockers facilitates spontaneous passage of ureteral stones ≤5 mm. Prevention strategies emphasize adequate hydration (≥2 L/day), dietary modifications including normal calcium intake with sodium restriction, and pharmacological interventions such as thiazide diuretics and potassium citrate based on stone composition and metabolic abnormalities. Emerging evidence demonstrates strong associations between metabolic syndrome components—obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia—and increased nephrolithiasis risk, highlighting the importance of comprehensive metabolic evaluation and lifestyle modifications in preventing recurrence. Understanding these multifactorial aspects enables individualized treatment approaches and reduces the 50% recurrence rate observed within 5–10 years