Investigating the Efficacy of Valariana Officinalis Phytocompound in Insomnia Management Using Molecular Docking Technique

Insomnia according to the International Classification of Sleep Disorders is defined as a subjective perception of difficulty with sleep initiation, duration, consolidation, or quality, which occurs despite adequate opportunity for sleep and results in some form of daytime impairment. Insomnia has a wide range of undesirable symptom but most common is poor daytime function and brain lag because of disruptions to the circadian rhythm. Insomnia results from a spectrum or plethora of factors including hormonal dysregulation of key neurotransmitters responsible for regulating stress response, maintenance of the circadian rhythm and balancing of reactive species. There is no doubt that genetics and environmental factors also contribute to insomnia, but in the absence of these, internal regulatory processes accounts for this disorder and treatment approach targets these mechanisms in order to manage the condition. The use of allopathic drugs has been adopted over the years, but usually the side effects of these drugs ranging from dependency and addiction to gastrointestinal upset and neurodegenerative disorders has more than ever made research into other treatment alternatives that is natural and safe most pertinent endeavor. Valariana officinalis, has been used for over two centuries traditionally to manage this condition with no adverse or side effects and this has thus made it a worthy plant candidate for research investigation. This observed characteristic is possible because, among other biological activity of this plant, anxiolytic, anti-insomnia and antioxidant activities are utilized mechanism of interaction with target proteins resulting in natural sleep inducement. The crust of this study, therefore is to uncover the particular phytochemical compound in Valariana officinalis that specifically targets key proteins associated with insomnia using molecular docking technique. The target proteins used in this study includes; cortisol, gamma aminobutyric acid, serotonin, melatonin and orexin. The results showed high binding affinity and interaction patterns between the target proteins and phytochemicals from Valariana officinalis. From the analysis it was observed that acevaltrate showed the best binding affinity across all target proteins used for this study. This therefore implies that acevaltrate may be a strong match for drug discovery in managing insomnia. Although the result of the docking analysis seems auspicious, it is vital to note that these findings are only computational. Thus further analysis through invitro and invivo experiments are required further validate these uncovering