{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,22]],"date-time":"2026-09-22T08:59:56Z","timestamp":1790067596058,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,22]],"date-time":"2026-09-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790035200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Pharmacol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    Oxidative stress has been implicated in the pathogenesis of African trypanosomiasis. Therefore, plant-derived antioxidants have been investigated as potential therapeutic agents, as they may not only reduce oxidative damage by scavenging reactive oxygen species but also impair parasite survival. The present study investigates the antioxidant activity and phytochemical composition of two Central African medicinal plants,\n                    <jats:italic>Tetradenia riparia<\/jats:italic>\n                    (Hochst.) Codd and\n                    <jats:italic>Tetracera poggei<\/jats:italic>\n                    (Gilg.), and evaluates the potential binding of their major constituents to the mRNA-binding protein DRBD18 of\n                    <jats:italic>Trypanosoma brucei<\/jats:italic>\n                    through\n                    <jats:italic>in silico<\/jats:italic>\n                    molecular docking. Aqueous and methanolic extracts were prepared by decoction and percolation. Qualitative phytochemical screening and quantitative spectrophotometry (Folin\u2013Ciocalteu, AlCl\n                    <jats:sub>3<\/jats:sub>\n                    ) revealed rich profiles of polyphenols, flavonoids, tannins, anthocyanins, and alkaloids in both species. UPLC-QTOF-MS in negative ESI mode identified eleven compounds in\n                    <jats:italic>T. riparia<\/jats:italic>\n                    , including rosmarinic acid, luteolin, acacetin, and diterpenoid SP-II and thirteen compounds in\n                    <jats:italic>T. poggei<\/jats:italic>\n                    , dominated by galloylated catechin derivatives (epi-gallocatechin 3-O-gallate, catechin 3-O-gallate (\u2212)-epicatechin-3-(3-O-methyl)-gallate). Antioxidant activity by DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging assays showed that percolated extracts consistently outperformed decocted extracts;\n                    <jats:italic>T. poggei<\/jats:italic>\n                    percolated extract showed the strongest DPPH activity (IC\n                    <jats:sub>50<\/jats:sub>\n                    = 4.141 \u00b1 0.175\u00a0\u03bcg\/mL). Molecular docking against the RRM1 and RRM2 domains of DRBD18 (AlphaFold model AF-Q57XR9-F1) revealed that diterpenoid SP-II and (\u2212)-epicatechin-3-(3-O-methyl)-gallate displayed the highest binding affinities (RRM1: \u22127.3\u00a0kcal\/mol). The strong antioxidant capacity of the identified compounds, particularly galloylated catechins and rosmarinic acid, is routinely linked to their structural features that also favor RRM domain binding, highlighting their potential as antioxidant compounds and candidate DRBD18 ligands warranting further biological investigation. These findings provide a rational basis for the further development of plant-derived agents targeting oxidative stress and RNA-binding mechanisms in\n                    <jats:italic>T. brucei<\/jats:italic>\n                    .\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fphar.2026.1910102","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,22]],"date-time":"2026-09-22T08:03:09Z","timestamp":1790064189000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Bioactive compounds from Tetradenia riparia and Tetracera poggei: antioxidant activity, UPLC-QTOF-MS phytochemical profiling, and in silico targeting of the RNA-binding protein DRBD18 of Trypanosoma brucei"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Williams Balela","family":"Balela","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Kinshasa","place":["Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo"]},{"name":"Laboratory of Ethnobiology and Medical Phytochemistry (E-PHYMED), University of Kinshasa","place":["Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Olivier Mpungi","family":"Konde","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Kinshasa","place":["Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo"]},{"name":"Laboratory of Ethnobiology and Medical Phytochemistry (E-PHYMED), University of Kinshasa","place":["Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo"]},{"name":"Laboratory for Analysis and Research on Food and Nutrition (LARAN), University of Kinshasa","place":["Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sephora Mutombo","family":"Mianda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Kinshasa","place":["Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Erdi Can","family":"Aytar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Usak University","place":["Usak, T\u00fcrkiye"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jean-Paul","family":"Ngbolua Koto-te-Nyiwa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Kinshasa","place":["Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo"]},{"name":"Laboratory of Ethnobiology and Medical Phytochemistry (E-PHYMED), University of Kinshasa","place":["Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Joseph Iteku","family":"Bekomo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Kinshasa","place":["Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo"]},{"name":"Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Usak University","place":["Usak, T\u00fcrkiye"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tania Bishola","family":"Tshitenge","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Kinshasa","place":["Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo"]},{"name":"One Health Institute for Africa (INOHA), University of Kinshasa","place":["Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo"]},{"name":"Department of Epidemiology and Global Health, Institut National de Recherche Biom\u00e9dicale (INRB)","place":["Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.3897\/pharmacia.71.e124992","article-title":"Synthesis and biological activity evaluation of new isatin-gallate hybrids as antioxidant and anticancer agents (in vitro) and in silico study as anticancer agents and coronavirus inhibitors","volume":"71","author":"Al-Mudhafar","year":"2024","journal-title":"Pharmacia"},{"key":"B11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"23065","DOI":"10.26717\/bjstr.2020.30.004895","article-title":"Catechins as emerging and promising antiparasitic agents","volume":"30","author":"Arg\u00fcello-Garc\u00eda","year":"2020","journal-title":"Biomed. 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