Available online at www.scholarsresearchlibrary.com Scholars Research Library J. Comput. Method. Mol. Design, 2011, 1 (2):9-13 (http://scholarsresearchlibrary.com/archive.html) ISSN : 2231- 3176 CODEN (USA): JCMMDA 9 Scholars Research Library Presuming the Probable Anti-inflammatory Mechanism of Ursolic Acid: a plant derived pentacyclic triterpenoid, using molecular docking Anil M. Manikrao 1 , Pravin N. Khatale 1 , Rahul D. Jawarkar* 1 , , J. V. Vyas 2 , D. T. Mahajan* 3 Vijay H. Masand 3 , Taibi ben hadda 4 1 Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Sahyadri College of Pharmacy, Methawde, Sangola, Solapur, Maharshtra. 2 Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Vidyabharati College of Pharmacy, Camp, Amaravati, Maharashtra, India 2 Department of Chemistry, VidyaBharati Mahavidyalaya, Camp, Amravati, Maharashtra, India- 4 Laboratoire Chimie des Matériaux, Faculté des Sciences, Université Mohammed Premier, OujdaP, Morocco. ______________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT Diverse Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and COX-2 inhibitors selectively binds to COX-2 and provide relief from the symptoms of pain and inflammation. However, they lack anti- thrombotic activity and hence lead to cardiovascular and renal liabilities apart from gastrointestinal irritation. To ameliorate the situation, the search can be focused on plant originated natural products that could offer better relief from inflammation than currently used commercial drugs. As an attempt to identify such natural alternates with anti-inflammatory activity, Ursolic acid, a pentacyclic triterpenoid was studied against human COX-2 enzymes using MOE programme. The Docking analysis reveals that Ursolic acid inhibit COX-2 enzyme by hydrophobic and hydrogen bonding interactions. Keywords: NSAID, COX-2, Docking, Hydrophobic, Ursolic acid. ______________________________________________________________________________ INTRODUCTION Triterpenoids exist widely in nature and are used for medicinal purposes in many Asian countries. Ursolic acid, a pentacyclic triterpenoid found in rosemary, possesses anticancer and anti-inflammatory effects 1,2,3,4 . It inhibits PMA-induced inflammation and tumor promotion in mouse skin 1 .