An and investigation of the antitrypanosomal activities of the stem bark extracts of (Pierre) Engl.

African Trypanosomiasis caused by trypanosome parasites continues to be a major neglected health problem, particularly in developing countries. Current treatments are marked by serious side effects, low effectiveness, high toxicity, and drug resistance prompting the need to develop novel, safe, effective, and alternative antitrypanosomal compounds. is an ethnomedicinal plant used in West Africa to treat many ailments including protozoan diseases. In this study, we investigated the antitrypanosomal potential of stem bark extracts of through and approaches. extracts were tested for their antitrypanosomal activities against parasite using Alamar blue assay. In addition, the antioxidant and cytotoxic activities were determined. LC-ESI-QTOF-MS was used to identify potential bioactive compounds present in the extracts. Bioactive compounds identified were subjected to molecular docking studies against (TR) and Uridine Diphosphate Galactose 4'-Epimerase (UDP). The . extracts (methanol, hexane, chloroform, and ethyl acetate) exhibited potential anti-trypanosomal activities with IC values of 21.25 ± 0.755,4.35 ± 0.166,2.57 ± 0.153 and 22.92 ± 2.321 μg/mL respectively. Moreover, the methanolic crude extracts showed moderate cytotoxicity against HepG2 and PNT2 cells, with IC values of 68.0 ± 2.05 and 78.7 ± 2.63 μg/mL respectively. LC-MS analysis revealed the presence of 24 bioactive compounds with 5 being druglike. Risperidone, Ranolazine, Dihydro-7-Desacetyldeoxygedunin, 6 beta-Hydroxytriamcinolone acetonide, and Dimethylmatairesinol were identified as novel potential inhibitors of TR and UDP with binding affinities of -10.4, -7.9, -8.7, -8.4 and -7.1 kcal/mol respectively against TR and -10.8, -8.4, -8.4, -7.6 and -8.1 respectively against UDP. This study indicates that has potential antitrypanosomal properties and therefore may have the potential to be developed as a therapeutic intervention for treating African trypanosomiasis.