In Nigeria, Tapinathus globiferus is used in traditional medicine in the managements of hypertension, diabetes, ulcers, infections, and skin itching, while aiding childbirth. In Europe, it addresses circulatory/respiratory issues, cancer, epilepsy, and acts as a nervous tonic. Malaria remains a devastating parasitic disease, with Plasmodium falciparum resistance to current therapies necessitating new drug targets. Plasmepsins I and II (Plm-I/II), aspartic proteases critical for hemoglobin degradation in the parasite’s life cycle, represent promising candidates. This study investigated four Tapinanthus globiferus-derived compounds—catechin (Y10), catechin-3-gallate (Y11), 4-methoxyphenyl acryl aldehyde (Y12), and 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy acryl aldehyde (Y13)—for their Plm-I (PDB: 3QS1) and Plm-II (PDB: 1LF3) inhibitory potential using molecular docking and ADMET profiling. Molecular docking revealed binding affinities ranging from −5.0 to −6.7 kcal/mol (Plm-I) and −5.6 to −8.4 kcal/mol (Plm-II). Catechin-3-gallate (Y11) exhibited the highest affinity for both enzymes (−6.7 and −8.4 kcal/mol, respectively), surpassing other ligands though lower than native co-crystallized inhibitors. Notably, Y11 formed a critical hydrogen bond with Asp214 (Plm-II catalytic dyad), explaining its enhanced binding. ADMET predictions indicated favorable drug-likeness: all compounds followed Lipinski’s rule, with catechin (Y10) classified as least toxic (Class VI). These findings highlight T. globiferus metabolites, particularly catechin-3-gallate, as promising plasmepsin inhibitors. The strong affinity and low toxicity profiles underscore their potential as antimalarial leads. Further in vitro and in vivo validation is warranted to advance their therapeutic development.

Nuclear receptors (NRs) are ligand-activated transcription factors that, in response to lipophilic hormones, vitamins, and dietary lipids, regulate numerous aspects of mammalian physiology, including development, reproduction, and metabolism. Bile acid (BA) receptors represent well-defined targets for the development of novel therapeutic approaches for metabolic and inflammatory diseases. The farnesoid X receptor (FXR) was identified as an orphan steroid receptor-like nuclear receptor in the late 1990s. FXR activation is crucial in many physiological functions of the liver. A vital role of FXR is to influence the amount of bile acids in hepatocytes by reducing bile acid synthesis, stimulating the bile salt export pump, and inhibiting enterohepatic circulation, thereby protecting hepatocytes from toxic bile acid accumulation. Furthermore, FXR mediates intestinal bile acid biotransformation, liver regeneration, glucose hemostasis, and lipid metabolism. In this review, we first analyze the mechanisms of the different pleiotropic actions of FXR agonists. FXR activation induces distinctive changes in circulating cholesterol in animal and human models. We present an evaluation of the interaction of various obeticholic acid analogs and other bile salts by studying their binding energies and receptor-ligand interactions with AutoDock software. The results open the possibility of using new alternatives by deriving structures at position 3 of the steroid nucleus.