title: [Assays of cytotoxicity and antiviral activity of crude and semipurified extracts of green leaves of Melia azedarach L].
abstract: Crude extracts from fresh green leaves of Melia azedarach L contain an antiviral factor (FAV) able to inhibit the replication of several animal viruses, e.g. Polio, VSV, HSV, FMDV, Sindbis, Junín, Pichinde and Tacaribe in Vero or BHK-21 cells. Crude preparations were subjected to different steps of purification like chromatography on Sephadex G-100 and DEAE-Sephadex. The antiviral activity of G-100 and DEAE fractions was fully conserved, whereas contaminating proteins were lost. Two types of cytotoxicity tests were performed with the different fractions. Two-fold serial dilutions of each of them were added to preformed monolayers of Vero or BHK-21 cells and cellular viability was tested. While crude extracts were toxic at low dilutions (less than or equal to 1:10), G-100 and DEAE fractions were not. The other cytotoxicity assay consisted in seeding the cells in the presence of different concentrations of each fraction. G-100 fraction affected cell growth at low dilutions (less than or equal to 1:5), while DEAE fraction did not. It should be remarked that the purification procedure rendered a partial purified DEAE fraction with an increased specific activity (antiviral activity/mg of protein). It is concluded that an antiviral factor devoid of toxicity exists in M. azedarach L extracts, which exhibited a broad spectrum of antiviral activity.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Química Biológica, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Andrei
authors.forename: C E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Coto
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: de Torres
mesh_terms: D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006477:Arenaviruses, New World / Q000502:physiology; D001118:Argentina; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects*; D006564:Herpesviridae / Q000502:physiology; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D017955:Poliovirus / Q000502:physiology; D012845:Sindbis Virus / Q000502:physiology; D014197:Trees; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D010936:Plant Extracts
vernacular_title: Ensayos de citotoxicidad y actividad antiviral de extractos crudos y semipurificados de hojas verdes de Melia azedarach L.