Efficacy of Camphor, Menthol, Thymol and Xanthotoxin in the Management of Pruritus: Molecular Docking Investigation

Traditionally, treatment options for pruritis have been suboptimal, and the mechanisms of pruritus are, disappointingly, far from well understood. This study used a molecular docking technique to investigate the probable antipruritic activity of four natural compounds, Camphor, Menthol, Thymol, and Xanthotoxin. The in-silico docking studies revealed that all of the ligands show better antipruritic efficacy than Gabapentin. Xanthotoxin showed the highest binding affinity toward the target protein, the kappa opioid receptor, with a docking score of -۷.۲۱ Kcal/mol and an inhibition constant of ۵.۱۵ µM.

Keywords:

Antipruritic , Camphor , Itching , Menthol , Molecular docking , Thymol , Xanthotoxin