EFFECT OF Punica granatum ON THE GLUTATHIONE S- TRANSFERASE ACTIVITY OF HAEMONCHUS Contortus- AN In vitro AND In silico ANALYSES

Haemonchosis is a disease caused by the pathogenic nematode Haemonchus contortus. This disease is wide spread and considered as an economically important disease of domestic ruminants worldwide. The present study deduces the effect of Punica granatum on the detoxification enzyme ‘Glutathione S- transferase’ (GST) of Haemonchus contortus. GST plays a crucial role in detoxification of various toxic metabolites in helminth parasites. Parasites incubated in various sub-lethal concentrations (10, 20 and 30 %) of P. granatum juice (PJ) caused significant inhibition in the GST activity of H. contortus. Inhibition in the GST activity of H. contortus deprive the parasites of its major defence mechanism and emulate the toxic metabolites which may be lethal to them. An in silico docking study was carried out to identify the potential phytochemicals in the fruit juice of P. granatum against the target protein GST(PDB ID: 2WS2) isolated from H. contortus using SwissDock online resource. The phytochemicals were screened based on their binding energies (-∆G Kcal/mol). Docking studies revealed that flavonoids such as Rutin, Procyanidin, Isoquercetin and Epigallocatechin 3-gallate have excellent binding capability in contrast to tannins and alkaloids. The presence of flavonoid derivatives in the fruit juice of P. granatum may exert antinematodal efficacy against H. contortus. Further investigations on the in vitro and In vivo activity of these compounds may throw light on the optimisation of their formulations and concentrations, which is necessary for the development of potent anthelmintic drug.