In Silico Safety Evaluation of Local Spices Tea Used Against Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV)

Abstract

Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) is an enveloped, single-stranded negative-sense RNA virus that primarily affects the respiratory tract, and has beenrecognized as a significant cause of respiratory infections, particularly in young children, the elderly and immunocompromised individuals. Despite its global burden, there are currently no approved vaccines or specific antiviral agents available for the treatment of HMPV, highlighting an urgent need for the development of novel therapeutics. Treatment remains supportive, and prevention and it is limited to infection control practices such as the use of local spices. This work aimed to evaluate the safety of spices tea formulated from six (6) local spicestraditionally used in management of human metapneumoviral infection by utilizing in silico tools approach to predict the pharmacokinetics, toxicity, and ADMET (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity) properties of the promising compounds. Eleven phytochemicals (lead compounds) were screened for drug-likeness, physicochemical properties, and pharmacokinetics using computational models. ADMET profiling revealed good oral bioavailability and minimal cytochrome enzyme inhibition for most compounds. Toxicity screening revealed that while some hit compounds were mildly toxic, all of the lead compounds were non-mutagenic and non-cytotoxic. However, prediction of neurotoxicity, cardiotoxicity, and immunotoxicity for squalene and stigmasterol (with probabilities > 0.85) at high dosage and this raises caution for dose selection and necessitates further in vivo toxicological evaluation.