Inverse Virtual Screening for the rapid re-evaluation of the presumed biological safe profile of natural products. The case of steviol from Stevia rebaudiana glycosides on farnesoid X receptor (FXR)

Nonnutritive sweeteners (NNSs) are widely employed as dietary substitutes for classical sugars thanks to their safety profile and low toxicity. In this study, a re-evaluation of the biological effects of steviol (1), the main metabolite from Stevia rebaudiana glycosides, was performed using the Inverse Virtual Screening (IVS) target fishing computational approach. Starting from well-known pharmacological properties of Stevia rebaudiana glycosides, this computational tool was employed for predicting the putative interacting targets of 1 and, afterwards, of its five synthetic ester derivatives 2–6, accounting a large panel of proteins involved in cancer and inflammation events. Applying this methodology, the farnesoid X receptor (FXR) was identified as the putative target partner of 1–6. The predicted ligand-protein interactions were corroborated by transactivation assays, specifically disclosing the agonistic activity of 1 and the antagonistic activities of 2–6 on FXR. The reported results highlight the feasibility of IVS as a fast and potent tool for predicting the interacting targets of query compounds, addressing the re-evaluation of their bioactivity. In light of the obtained results, the presumably safe profile of known compounds, such as the case of steviol (1), is critically discussed.