Gallic acid (GA) is a phenolic molecule found naturally in a wide range of fruits as well as in medicinal plants. It has many health benefits due to its antioxidant properties. This study focused on finding out the neurobiological effects and mechanisms of GA using published data from reputed databases. For this, data were collected from various sources, such as PubMed/Medline, Science Direct, Scopus, Google Scholar, SpringerLink, and Web of Science. The findings suggest that GA can be used to manage several neurological diseases and disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, strokes, sedation, depression, psychosis, neuropathic pain, anxiety, and memory loss, as well as neuroinflammation. According to database reports and this current literature-based study, GA may be considered one of the potential lead compounds to treat neurological diseases and disorders. More preclinical and clinical studies are required to establish GA as a neuroprotective drug.

Sedatives promote calmness or sleepiness during surgery or severely stressful events. In addition, depression is a mental health issue that negatively affects emotional well-being. A group of drugs called anti-depressants is used to treat major depressive illnesses. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the effects of quercetin (QUR) and linalool (LIN) on thiopental sodium (TS)-induced sleeping mice and to investigate the combined effects of these compounds using a conventional co-treatment strategy and in silico studies. For this, the TS-induced sleeping mice were monitored to compare the occurrence, latency, and duration of the sleep-in response to QUR (10, 25, 50 mg/kg), LIN (10, 25, 50 mg/kg), and diazepam (DZP, 3 mg/kg, i.p.). Moreover, an in silico investigation was undertaken to assess this study’s putative modulatory sedation mechanism. For this, we observed the ability of test and standard medications to interact with various gamma-aminobutyric acid A receptor (GABA_A) subunits. Results revealed that QUR and LIN cause dose-dependent antidepressant-like and sedative-like effects in animals, respectively. In addition, QUR-50 mg/kg and LIN-50 mg/kg and/or DZP-3 mg/kg combined were associated with an increased latency period and reduced sleeping times in animals. Results of the in silico studies demonstrated that QUR has better binding interaction with GABA_A α3, β1, and γ2 subunits when compared with DZP, whereas LIN showed moderate affinity with the GABA_A receptor. Taken together, the sleep duration of LIN and DZP is opposed by QUR in TS-induced sleeping mice, suggesting that QUR may be responsible for providing sedation-antagonizing effects through the GABAergic interaction pathway.

Chronic and severe inflammation results in many diseases and disorders in humans. Currently, available conventional anti-inflammatory drugs have numerous mild-to-severe side effects. Thus, there is a need for safe, effective, affordable, and alternative anti-inflammatory drugs. This study aimed to evaluate the anti-inflammatory effect of sclareol (SCL), a diterpene alcohol that is the principal ingredient in the refined oil of Salvia sclarea (L.), through in vivo and in silico studies. First, we examined the individual and combined effects of SCL (5, 10, and 20 mg/kg) and standard drugs celecoxib (CXB) or ketoprofen (KPN) at 42 mg/kg (p.o.) on the formalin-induced inflammatory Swiss mice. Additionally, an in silico analysis was conducted to evaluate the potential anti-inflammatory mechanism of this study. For this, we examined the potentiality of SCL and standards to interact with cyclooxygenase (COX) -1 and COX-2 receptors. Our findings suggest that SCL exhibits a dose-dependent anti-inflammatory effect in mice. SCL-20 mg/kg significantly reduced the number of paw licks and paw edema diameters. Moreover, SCL-20 combined with CXB-42 and KPN-42 demonstrated better anti-inflammatory effects. In comparison to the standards, SCL revealed a comparable binding interaction with COX-1 and COX-2 receptors in the molecular docking study. Furthermore, SCL displayed remarkable pharmacokinetic characteristics. In conclusion, SCL significantly and dose-dependently reduced the number of paw licks and edema diameters in animals. Thus, SCL may be responsible for producing an anti-inflammatory effect by interacting with COX-1 and COX-2 receptors.