Molecular Interaction Studies of Garlic Active Compound for Lowering Down the Blood Pressure Using Bioinformatics Approach

Abstract

High Blood pressure is regarded as “silent killer” because person may not feel that something is happening wrong in the body, but it can quietly cause damage that can threaten health. Non-pharmacological approaches, such as alternative / complementary medicine have potential to reduce cardiovascular risk factor such as high blood pressure. Garlic supplements i.e. phytochemicals plays an important role in lowering down blood pressure (BP) about 10 mmHg systolic and 8 mmHg diastolic. This effect resembles to standard BP medication available for lowering blood pressure. Present study reveals the detailed mechanisms of Allicin in lowering down BP at molecular level. Allicin enhances the conversion of oxidized glutathione (GSSG) to reduced glutathione (GSH) by interacting with the enzyme responsible for this conversion i.e. Glutathione Reductase (GR). Thus Allicin stimulate the production of nitric oxide (NO) which acts on the Guanyl cyclase, the enzyme responsible for the conversion of GTP to cGMP, this cGMP induces smooth muscle cell relaxation, vasodilation, and BP reduction. In present studies was conducted by using various bioinformatics resources like Protein Data Bank PDB, PubChem, ArgusLab and SPDBV.

Keywords: High Blood pressure, Nitric Oxide (NO), Allicin, Garlic supplements, Guanyl cyclase, Glutathione Reductase (GR), Swiss PDB viewer (SPDBV)