Molecular Characterization and in Silico Analysis of Phytochemical Compounds from Plants with Immunomodulatory Potential

The immune system works to protect the body against foreign antigens from microorganisms and abnormal cells. The use of herbal plants as immunomodulators are used to prevent disease attacks. TNFα and interleukin-6 are pro-inflammatory immune systems that cause disease in uncontrolled synthesis. Herbal plants as inhibitors of TNFα and interleukin-6 need to be identified molecularly to reduce the occurrence of poisoning. This research aims to determine the molecular characteristics of herbal plants based on ITS primers and in silico studies of plant phytochemical compounds as inhibitors of TNFα and interleukin-6 for immunomodulatory. The research was carried out by isolating and amplifying the DNA of herbal plants, identifying phytochemical compounds through literature study, PASS Prediction analysis and molecular docking. The results showed that the ITS fragment size of six herbal plants was 700 bp. PASS Prediction analysis on anti-inflammatories and immunomodulatory shows that zerumbone has a Par value of 0.831 and hexadecanoic acid has a Par value of 0.481. The results of molecular docking show that the compounds betulin and benzenedicarboxylic acid have the smallest binding affinity values, namely -9.0 and -8.1 kcal/mol when interacting with TNF alpha and interleukin-6 compared with adalimumab as positive control.