Clitoria ternatea L. (CT) is a perennial herbaceous plant with deep blue flowers native to tropical Asia. This work explores the endometrial pain (EP) regulation of CT flower through a multifaceted approach. Phytochemical screening unveiled the presence of alkaloids, steroids, flavonoids, glycosides, and tannins in CT flower methanolic extract (ME). In the in vitro membrane stabilizing experiment, the ME demonstrated 91.47% suppression of heat-induced hemolysis. Upon carrageenan-induced paw edema assay conducted on male Swiss albino mice at doses of 200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg, 65.28% and 81.89% inhibition rates, respectively, of paw edema were reported. For the same doses, upon acetic acid-induced-writhing assay, 75.6% and 76.78% inhibition rates, respectively, were observed. For network pharmacology analyses, a protein–protein interaction network was constructed for 92 overlapping gene targets of CT and EP, followed by GO and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses. Network pharmacology-based investigation identified the anti-EP activity of CT to be mostly regulated by the proteins SRC homology, ESR1, and PI3KR1. Physicochemical, pharmacokinetic, and toxicity property predictions for the compounds with stable ligand–target interactions and a molecular dynamics simulation for the highest interacting complex further validated these findings. This work affirmed the anti-EP role of CT flower against EP, suggesting a probable molecular mechanism involved.

This study explored the potential role of Clitoria ternatea (CT) flower in ameliorating endometrial pain (EP) through network pharmacology and experimental approaches. Phytochemicals of the CT flower were listed from the literature and databases, and 18 suitable actives were screened for bioavailability and drug likeness parameters using SwissADME. For these actives, 279 exclusive target genes were predicted using SwissTargetPrediction. Additionally, 939 exclusive genes for EP were acquired from the DisGenet and GeneCards databases. Ninety-one overlapping gene targets of CT and EP were listed, for which a Protein–Protein Interaction (PPI) network was constructed using STRING. The top three node proteins (SRC, ESR1, and PI3KR1) in the PPI network were identified through Cytoscape (version 3.9.1). Molecular docking analysis of the eighteen actives with the three target proteins showed strong binding interactions of Flavylium, kaempherol, and quercetin with all the targets, suggesting their involvement in EP relief. In addition, Gene Ontology (GO) functions analysis revealed 320 biological processes, 59 cellular components, and 107 molecular functions were enriched with the target genes. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses identified 106 KEGG pathways, including steroid hormone biosynthesis, endocrine resistance, and endometrial cancer pathways, which were significantly enriched with the target genes. The anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of CT’s methanolic extract (ME) were investigated through in vitro and in vivo assays. The ME exhibited 91.47% inhibition of heat-induced hemolysis compared to 92.87% by aspirin in the in vitro membrane stabilizing assay. The in vivo carrageenan-induced paw edema study revealed 65.28% inhibition of paw edema by ME compared to 80.38% inhibition by aceclofenac at the end of 4-h treatment. The in vivo acetic acid-induced writhing test demonstrated analgesia by ME by 75.6% inhibition of writhing compared to 77.49% by aceclofenac. These findings suggest CT flower could be a potential natural remedy for EP, warranting further investigation in future studies.

An altered behavioral pattern is a deliberate fact in diabetic conditions that could be induced due to the consumption of foods rich in fructose content. The objective of this research was to develop a fructose-induced diabetic mice model to determine the behavioral changes. Swiss albino mice were involved in this study as the animal model which was subdivided into three groups (control, test groups 1 and 2). Diabetes was induced in test groups 1 and 2 by introducing 10% and 15% fructose solution orally for 8 weeks. After 8 weeks, behavioral tests including hole board test (HBT), tail suspension test (TST), elevated plus maze test (EMT), and forced swim test (FST) were performed to evaluate the behavioral pattern. Findings indicated that test group 1 showed a considerable increase in body weight but only a minor increase in fasting blood glucose (FBG) level than the control group. Neither the behavioral studies for test group 1 stretch any substantial alteration. Whereas test group 2 showed a considerable increase in FBG level and body weight as well as in the behavioral tests. (HBT: 47.87% lower head dipping than the control group; TST: 90.85% higher immobility time than the control group; EMT: 58% lower exploration to open arm than the control group; FST: 38.64% less mobility time than the control group). The findings of the study illustrate that consumption of high concentrations of fructose for long term could have a positive correlation with the induction of type 2 diabetes along with the altered behavioral pattern. Bangladesh Pharmaceutical Journal 27(2): 158-163, 2024 (July)