Investigation of twenty selected medicinal plants from Malaysia for anti-Chikungunya virus activity

Autors/ores

  • Yik Sin Chan Department of Biomedical Science, Faculty of Science, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Kampar, Perak, Malaysia.
  • Kong Soo Khoo Department of Chemical Science, Faculty of Science, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Kampar, Perak, Malaysia
  • Nam Weng Sit Department of Biomedical Science, Faculty of Science, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Kampar, Perak, Malaysia.

Paraules clau:

Chikungunya virus, antivirals, cytotoxicity, sequential extraction, medicinal plants

Resum

Chikungunya virus is a reemerging arbovirus transmitted mainly by Aedes mosquitoes. As there are no specific treatments available, Chikungunya virus infection is a significant public health problem. This study investigated 120 extracts from selected medicinal plants for anti-Chikungunya virus activity. The plant materials were subjected to sequential solvent extraction to obtain six different extracts for each plant. The cytotoxicity and antiviral activity of each extract were examined using African monkey kidney epithelial (Vero) cells. The ethanol, methanol and chloroform extracts of Tradescantia spathacea (Commelinaceae) leaves showed the strongest cytopathic effect inhibition on Vero cells, resulting in cell viabilities of 92.6% ± 1.0% (512 μg/ml), 91.5% ± 1.7% (512 μg/ml) and 88.8% ± 2.4% (80 μg/ml) respectively. However, quantitative RT-PCR analysis revealed that the chloroform extract of Rhapis excelsa (Arecaceae) leaves resulted in the highest percentage of reduction of viral load (98.1%), followed by the ethyl acetate extract of Vernonia amygdalina (Compositae) leaves (95.5%). The corresponding 50% effective concentrations (EC50) and selectivity indices for these two extracts were 29.9 ± 0.9 and 32.4 ± 1.3 μg/ml, and 5.4 and 5.1 respectively. Rhapis excelsa and Vernonia amygdalina could be sources of anti-Chikungunya virus agents. [Int Microbiol 19(3):175-182 (2016)]

Keywords: Chikungunya virus · antivirals · cytotoxicity · sequential extraction · medicinal plants

Biografia de l'autor/a

Nam Weng Sit, Department of Biomedical Science, Faculty of Science, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Kampar, Perak, Malaysia.



Descàrregues

Número

Vol. 19 Núm. 3 (2016)

Secció

Articles

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