In Silico and in Vitro Approach for the Understanding of the Xanthine Oxidase Inhibitory Activity of Uruguayan Tannat Grape Pomace and Propolis Poliphenols

The use of food additives with xanthine oxidase (XO) inhibitory activity offers an alternative approach to hyperuricemic and gout disease treatment, and provides an example of antioxidant nutraceutics. The in vitro and in silico XO inhibitory activity of polyphenols from Uruguayan Tannat grape pomaces and propolis extracts was evaluated as well as the scavenging capacity of said compounds. When comparing propolis and grape pomace samples, the in vitro studies demonstrated that polyphenols extracted from propolis are more active as free radical scavengers than those from Tannat grape pomace. Both natural products effectively inhibited XO but the capacity of phenols present in GP is higher than the one present in P. The high content of anthocyanins in GP, absent in P, could account for this observation. In silico assays allowed us to determine relevant ligand-receptor interactions between polyphenols, from a database built with previously reported polyphenols from both natural products, and the active site of XO. The in silico results showed that compound (E)-isoprenylcaffeate from propolis was the best potential XO inhibitor displaying hydrophobic aromatic interaction between the conjugated ring of the caffeate moiety and polar interactions between hydroxyl groups from caffeate with the active site polar residues. Among grape pomaces, the Cyanidin-3-O-(6-(E)-p-coumaroyl)-glucoside was the best XO inhibitor; its moiety oxychromenyl being relevant to the docking stabilization. All these results lead us to propose Uruguayan propolis and Tannat grape pomace extracts as food additives as well as phytopharmaceuticals to decrease the uric acid levels in gout disease and to act against oxidative stress.