Hepatoprotective effects of Ulva fasciata against cisplatin-induced liver injury in rats: GC-MS-based identification, In Silico ADME profiling, and molecular docking analysis of bioactive compounds.

Marine macroalgae (seaweeds) have a beneficial source of bioactive compounds with various pharmacological curative properties. Among them, green seaweed (Ulva fasciata) has gained recognition due to its promising anticancer and antioxidant activities. In current study, the hepatoprotective effects of ethanolic extract of U. fasciata against cisplatin-induced hepatotoxicity in Sprague-Dawley rats were estimated via histopathological, biochemical and in silico analyses. The rats were divided into four groups: (I) control, (II) U. fasciata extract, (III) cisplatin (IV) U. fasciata + cisplatin co-treatment group. Results showed that U. fasciata significantly (p < 0.05) restored hepatic antioxidant statue, increasing glutathione (GSH) and catalase (CAT) while decreasing malondialdehyde (MDA) levels. Histopathological examination showed preservation of hepatic architecture, reduced hepatocellular degeneration and minimal central vein congestion in the U. fasciata-treated group. GC-MS profiling identified major bioactive compounds, including long-chain fatty acid esters such as; hexadecanoic acid methyl ester, 9,12-octadecadienoic acid (Z, Z)-methyl ester, 9-octadecenoic acid (Z)-methyl ester, known for antioxidant and membrane-stabilizing activities. in silico ADME and drug-likeness profiling of these identified compounds via SwissADME showed favourable oral bioavailability and high gastrointestinal absorption for most constituents. Additionally, molecular docking studies was performed to explored the binding effect of bioactive compounds along with antioxidant previously reported as a reference compound N-acetylcysteine (NAC) with anti-oxidant enzyme; Catalase. Consequently, Oleic acid, 3-(octadecyloxy) propyl ester showed high binding potency to Catalase with binding energy as -8.0 kcal/mol. All the docked compounds showed better binding affinity than the binding affinity of N-acetylcysteine. The study suggested that U. fasciata exhibited significant hepatoprotective agents against cisplatin induced oxidative liver damage, likely attributable to its antioxidant properties and also identified bioactive compounds demonstrate promising pharmacokinetic attributes, supporting the therapeutic potential of U. fasciata isolates as a natural hepatoprotective agent.