In Silico Prediction of the Bioactive Profile and Metabolites of Satureja nepeta in Diseases Related to the Excessive Production of Interleukin-6

Inflammatory bowel diseases are caused by an abnormal reaction of the immune system, which becomes hyperactive because the mechanisms responsible for regulating it get out of control. For an effective immune response, many proinflammatory cytokines are secreted, particularly interleukin-6 (IL-6) keystone cytokine inflammation. Many synthetic and natural compounds targeting IL-6 have been studied. The genus Satureja of the Lamiaceae family is generally known for its many virtues, in particular anti-inflammatory properties. However, the mechanism of action is unclear. This study aims to predict the impact of characterized bioactive molecules of Moroccan Satureja nepeta in the potential control of inflammatory response mediated by IL-6 cytokine. A list of 9 previously characterized natural compounds of S. nepeta was compiled, and a list of 6 potential protein targets involved in intestinal inflammation was made. The 2 lists of natural compound-target proteins were analyzed by the STITCH software (http://stitch.embl.de/) to develop protein-compound and protein-protein interaction networks (PPINs). An ontological enrichment (GO) analysis was performed by the Clue GO plugin to evaluate the PPIN generated by STITCH; finally, the molecular docking to predict the mode underlying the anti-inflammatory effects. STITCH results revealed direct and indirect interactions of S. nepeta chemical compounds with a key protein target IL-6. The array results by ClueGO showed that most compounds involved in the regulation of several biological processes related to IL-6 such as inflammation apoptosis, cell differentiation, and metabolic regulation. The targets directly related to IL-6 have been used for molecular docking. Quercetin, catechin, and gallic acid have a strong affinity with the IL-6 receptor (respectively −7.1; −6.1; −5.3). This study strongly suggests that the bioactive compounds of S. nepeta could constitute a new therapeutic alternative in the treatment of diseases related to IL-6. However, to validate the results obtained in this work, it is necessary to explore the mechanism of action of potential bioactive molecules by experimentation.