IN SILICO INVESTIGATION OF THE THERAPEUTIC POTENTIAL OF CERTAIN PLANTS USED IN THE MANAGEMENT OF POSTPARTUM HEMORRHAGE

ABSTRACT

Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) is an excessive bleeding after childbirth which is a leading cause of maternal mortality in low- and middle-income countries. It affects women's health, economic stability, and social standing, especially when hysterectomy is required. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends prophylactic uterotonics post-birth to prevent uterine atonyrelated PPH and treatment with uterotonics, intravenous tranexamic acid (TXA), and other interventions based on the bleeding cause. Traditional PPH management includes oxytocin, ergometrine, and misoprostol. This study aims to evaluate the therapeutic potential of the phytoconstituents of plants used in the management PPH using in silico methods. Phytochemicals from Vernonia amygdalina (82), Psidium guajava, Ricinus communis and Gossypium hirsutum and occimum gratissimum were obtained from PubChem and docked against the oxytocin receptor protein (7RYC), misoprostol(7CX2), and ergometrine (7YMJ) along with the reference compounds using the maestro 12.8 suite. Pharmacokinetic profile and post docking analysis of the phytoconstituents having similar docking score with the reference compounds were carried out using ADMETLAB 3.0 and maestro 12.8 suite. These plant-derived compounds showed therapeutic potential as candidates for PPH management. Further molecular dynamics simulations and laboratory experiments are needed to validate these findings.