Inhibiting Human and Leishmania Arginases Using Cannabis sativa as a Potential Therapy for Cutaneous Leishmaniasis: A Molecular Docking Study.

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL), a vector-borne parasitic disease caused by the protozoan, is a serious public health problem in Morocco. The treatment of this disease is still based on pentavalent antimonials as the primary therapy, but these have associated side effects. Thus, the development of effective, risk-free alternative therapeutics based on natural compounds against leishmaniasis is urgent. Arginase, the key enzyme in the polyamine biosynthetic pathway, plays a critical role in outcome and has emerged as a potential therapeutic target. The objective of this study was to test 's phytochemical components (cannabinoids and terpenoids) through molecular docking against and human arginase enzymes. Our results showed that delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) possessed the best binding energies of -6.02 and -6.35 kcal/mol with active sites of and human arginases, respectively. Delta-9-THC interacted with arginase through various amino acids including His139 and His 154 and linked to human arginase via His 126. In addition to delta-9-THC, caryophyllene oxide and cannabidiol (CBD) also showed a good inhibition of and human arginases, respectively. Overall, the studied components were found to inhibit both arginases active sites via hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions. These components may serve as therapeutic agents or in co-administrated therapy for leishmaniasis.