molecular docking studies of triphala with catalytic portion of hmg-coa reductase enzyme

Introduction: triphala, consisting of three fruits, phyllanthus emblica l. (phyllanthaceae), terminalia bellirica (gaertn.) roxb. (combretaceae), and t. chebula retz, is a well-recognized ayurvedic herbal formulation, used for various therapeutic purposes, including the treatment of dyslipidemia. inhibitory activity against 3‑hydroxy‑3‑methylglutaryl‑coenzyme a (hmg‑coa) reductase, a rate-limiting enzyme in the endogenous cholesterol synthesis pathway, is an essential target for the management of hypercholesterolemia. this in silico study aimed to investigate the hmg-coa reductase inhibitory activity of the phytochemical compounds derived from triphala formulation by employing molecular docking analysis. methods: ten phytochemical constituents of triphala formulation were selectively used for docking study by using the hmg-coa reductase template (pdb: 1hwk). docking analysis was performed using autodock 4.2. the candidates were ranked by the binding energy parameters. results: from the docking studies, the phytochemical compounds with hmg-coa reductase inhibition could be classified into 4 groups, including phytosterols, polyphenols, tannins, and flavonoids. beta-sitosterol exhibited the highest binding affinity to hmg-coa reductase with a binding energy of -7.75 kcal/mol. conclusion: these 10 phytochemical compounds in triphala potentially exert their cholesterol-lowering effects via inhibition against hmg-coa reductase. nonetheless, further in vitro and in vivo experiments should be conducted subsequently to confirm this finding.