Aham_2026_In.Silico.Pharmacol_14_2

Medicinal plants and their phytochemicals are gaining attention in managing erectile dysfunction (ED) and diabetes. This study investigated the erectogenic and antidiabetic potentials of ethanol extract of Hymenodictyon pachyantha K.Krause (EHP), using in vitro and in silico approaches. The erectogenic potential of EHP was evaluated via inhibition of phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE-5), arginase, and acetylcholinesterase (AchE) activities, whereas the antidiabetic property was determined via inhibition of alpha-amylase and alpha-glucosidase activities. Our data revealed that EHP inhibited PDE-5 (IC(50) = 0.58 mg/ml), arginase (IC(50) = 0.57 mg/ml), and AchE (IC(50) = 0.48 mg/ml), comparable with the reference drug, sildenafil (IC(50) = 0.55 mg/ml). The results also showed that EHP inhibited alpha-amylase (IC50 = 0.81 mg/ml) and alpha-glucosidase (IC(50) = 0.23 mg/ml) compared with the reference drug acarbose, which showed IC50 = 0.66 mg/ml and 0.25 mg/ml, respectively. The presence of rutin, naringin, spartein, epicatechin, catechin, and resveratrol, among others, was determined in EHP using gas chromatography and was subjected to computational studies, including molecular docking to predict enzyme interactions, and ADMET analysis to determine their drug-like properties. Rutin and naringin had the highest binding affinity against PDE-5, arginase, and AchE. Sapogenin and rutin demonstrated the highest binding affinity to the active site of alpha-amylase and alpha-glucosidase, respectively, compared to the reference antidiabetic compound, acarbose. Overall, our findings showed that EHP inhibited PDE-5, arginase, AchE, alpha-amylase, and alpha-glucosidase, with phytochemicals particularly rutin, naringin, catechin, and sapogenin showing the strongest docking affinities and favorable ADMET properties, indicating that EHP contains compounds with erectogenic and antidiabetic potentials; however, further research is required to confirm the safety and efficacy of EHP's phytocompounds using in vivo experiments. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40203-025-00510-6.