Antidiabetic, antioxidant, and anti-obesity effects of phenylthio-ethyl benzoate derivatives, and molecular docking study regarding α-amylase enzyme

In addition to their wide therapeutic application, benzoates and benzoic acid derivatives are the most commonly utilized food preservatives. The purpose of this study was to estimate the antioxidant, anti-diabetic, and anti-obesity activities of four 2-(phenylthio)-ethyl benzoate derivatives utilizing standard biomedical assays. The results revealed that the 2a compound has potent antidiabetic activity through the inhibition of α-amylase and α-glycosidase with IC₅₀ doses of 3.57 ± 1.08 and 10.09 ± 0.70 µg/ml, respectively, compared with the positive control acarbose (IC₅₀ = 6.47 and 44.79 µg/ml), respectively. In addition, by utilizing the β-carotene linoleic acid and DPPH methods, the 2a compound showed the highest antioxidant activity compared with positive controls. Moreover, the 2a compound showed potential anti-lipase activity with an IC₅₀ dose of 107.95 ± 1.88 µg/ml compared to orlistat (IC₅₀ = 25.01 ± 0.78 µg/ml). A molecular docking study was used to understand the interactions between four derivatives of (2-(phenylthio)-ethyl benzoate with α-amylase binding pocket. The present study concludes that the 2a compound could be exploited for further antidiabetic, antioxidant, and anti-obesity preclinical and clinical tests and design suitable pharmaceutical forms to treat these global health problems.