Antimycobacterial activity of linoleic acid and oleic acid obtained from the hexane extract of the seeds of Mesua ferrea L. and their in silico investigation

Abstract

Tuberculosis is responsible for about 8 million deaths worldwide annually. The emergence of multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant strains urgently requires the development of new drugs against tuberculosis. Drug discovery from plants against tuberculosis is an exciting area for exploration. In the present study, the fatty acids- linoleic and oleic acids isolated and identified from the seeds of the plant Mesua ferrea L. exhibited antimycobacterial activity. The analysis was done using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry and supplementary information was obtained using fourier transform-infra red and ¹H and ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance. The minimum inhibitory concentration of the purified fraction containing both the compounds was found to be 78 µg/mL. In silico molecular docking studies against the target proteins GlfT2, Inh A and mtKasB of Mycobacterium tuberculosis revealed high scores for both the compounds. Cytotoxicity studies of the compounds revealed no toxicity and high antioxidant activity was observed.