Insights from the molecular docking analysis of SGLT2 and FIMH to combat uropathogenicity

SGLT2 inhibitors are a novel class of FDA approved anti-diabetes drugs. They act by blocking the SGLT2 protein, which prevents glucose reabsorption, leading in enhance glucose excretion and lower blood glucose levels. In diabetic patients, SGLT2 inhibitors have been linked to urinary tract infections (UTIs). Therefore, the development of novel SGLT2 inhibitors with no adverse effects is a need of time. With this purpose, in this study, 48164natural compounds from ZINC database were screened targeting both the SGLT2 and FimH protein using insilico approaches. FimH has been discovered as a promising target for preventing and treating UTIs. The hit compounds ZINC69481892, ZINC1612996, and ZINC4039265 exhibited strong binding with both SGLT2 and FimH with binding energies values of -9.88, -8.96, and -10.57 kcal/mol for SGLT2, and -7.86, -7.01, and -8.92 kcal/mol for FimH, which is higher than that of controls (-6.78 kcal/mol (Empaglifozolin for SGLT2) and -5.14 kcal/mol (Heptyl α-d-mannopyranoside for FimH)). Hits were found to bind with key residues of both SGLT2 and FimH protein. In addition, physiochemical properties showed that these compounds have good drug-likeness properties. Therefore, we anticipate that if these compounds are investigated further, might be potential SGLT2 inhibitors with less uropathogenic adverse effects.