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ORIGINAL RESEARCH

Computational evaluation of Ficus religiosa and Psoralea corylifolia phytoconstituents targeting the human urate transporter in gout management

Sumanya Haribabu1 Prithivirajan Elangovan1 Arundhamizh Navilan1 Nithya Vijayan1 Saraswati Patel1*
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1 Department of Pharmacology, Saveetha College of Pharmacy, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Submitted: 3 September 2025 | Revised: 24 December 2025 | Accepted: 2 March 2026 | Published: 11 May 2026
© 2026 by the Author(s). Licensee Biomaterials Translational, USA. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/deed.en)
Abstract

Gout is an inflammatory metabolic disease characterized by hyperuricemia and the deposition of monosodium urate crystals. In this study, an integrated network pharmacology and molecular docking approach was used to assess the phytoconstituent compounds of Ficus religiosa and Psoralea corylifolia as potential anti-gout agents. Predicted targets obtained from SwissTargetPrediction and disease databases were intersected to generate a focused set of proteins, which were analyzed using STRING, Cytoscape topology, and molecular complex detection clustering. Gene ontology and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes enrichment analyses highlighted pathways regulating urate transport, inflammatory signaling, and oxidative stress. A total of 19 phytoconstituents were screened in silico, with seven (corylin, lupenone, methyl oleonolate, lupeol, bavachinin, stigmasterol, and β-sitosterol-D-glucoside) exhibiting favorable binding affinities (≤−8.0 kcal/mol) against the human urate transporter (GLUT9), interacting with residues involved in urate handling. Absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity profiling showed relatively low oral absorption prediction, variable clearance, and compound-specific toxicity concerns, while the prediction of activity spectra for substances analysis suggested potential anti-inflammatory activity. These findings indicate that urate metabolism and inflammation can be modulated by the plants’ phytoconstituents and highlight the need for targeted in vitro, in vivo, and formulation studies to ascertain efficacy and address bioavailability and safety concerns.

Keywords
Ficus religiosa
Psoralea corylifolia
Human urate transporter
Anti-inflammatory activity
Good health and well-being
Sustainable drug discovery
Plant-based therapeutics
Funding
None.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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