Toona sinensis Roem tender leaf extract inhibits SARS coronavirus replication.
OBJECTIVE
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a life-threatening disease caused by the SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV). The development of new antiviral agents for SARS-CoV is an important issue. We tried to find potential resource from Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for development of new drugs against SARS-CoV.


METHODS
Our team recruited the potential TCM formulae (also known as Kampo) from two TCM books, Shang-Han Lun (Discussion of Cold-Induced Disorders) and Wen-Bing Tiau-Bein (Differential Management of Febrile Diseases). Several herbs, which were believed to be beneficial for SARS by experienced TCM doctors were also recruited. In addition, a vegetable polular in Taiwan, China and Malaysia, the tender leaf of Toona sinensis Roem (also known as Cedrela sinensis, belongs to the family Meliacceae) was also recruited under the suggestion of botanic experts. These TCM products and plant extrats were then tested for the effectiveness against SARS-CoV in vitro.


RESULTS
Only TSL-1, the extract from tender leaf of Toona sinensis Roem was found to have an evident effect against SARS-CoV with selectivity index 12 approximately 17.


CONCLUSIONS
This paper reports for the first time that extract from a vegetable, the tender leaf of Toona sinensis Roem, can inhibit SARS-CoV in vitro. Thererfore, the tender leaf of Toona sinensis Roem may be an important resource agninst SARS-CoV.
Chen
Chung-Jen
CJ
Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital-Kaohsiung Medical Center, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. chungjen@adm.cgmh.org.tw
Michaelis
Martin
M
Hsu
Hseng-Kuang
HK
Tsai
Chin-Chuan
CC
Yang
Kunder D
KD
Wu
Yang-Chang
YC
Cinatl
Jindrich
J
Doerr
Hans Wilhelm
HW