Antiviral screening of forty-two Egyptian medicinal plants.
OBJECTIVE
Egyptian medicinal plants are well known by their diverse uses in traditional folk medicine to cure various ailments including infectious diseases. Forty-two Egyptian medicinal plant species were selected from local market and were subjected to antiviral screening bioassay to investigate and to evaluate their biological activities.


METHODS
Hydro-alcoholic extracts of each species were separately prepared and tested against three viruses: herpes simplex-1 virus (HSV), poliomyelitis-1 virus (POLIO) and vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV). The antiviral activity were determined by means of the end point titration technique (EPTT) that depends on the ability of plant extract dilutions to inhibit the produced cytopathogenic effect (CPE) and expressed as reduction factor (Rf) of the viral titer.


RESULTS
Achillea fragrantissima, Jasonia montana and Globularia arabica are found to have antiviral activity against POLIO in a concentration dependent manner at complete non-toxic concentration range 10-100 microg/ml (Rf 10(6)), 10-100 microg/ml (Rf 10(5)) and 50-100 microg/ml (Rf 10(4)), respectively while Tanacetum sinaicum are found to have moderate antiviral activity against POLIO at concentration of 50-100 microg/ml (Rf 10(2)). Ephedra alata and Moringa peregrina are found to have antiviral activity against HSV (Rf 10(4)). Also, the results revealed that Capparis sinaica, Tamarix nilotica and Cyperus rotundus are found to have virucidal effect against HSV. All the forty-two plant species are found to have no reliable antiviral activity against VSV.


CONCLUSIONS
The specific indications claimed by the traditional healers are confirmed by antiviral test.
Soltan
Maha Mohamed
MM
Chemistry of Medicinal Plants Dept, National Research Centre (NRC), Dokki, Cairo, Egypt. mahasoltan@netscape.net
Zaki
Adel Kamal
AK
D000818:Animals; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical / Q000379:methods*; D018259:Herpesvirus 1, Human / Q000187:drug effects; D016488:Medicine, African Traditional; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests / Q000379:methods; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017955:Poliovirus / Q000187:drug effects; D014709:Vero Cells; D018116:Vesiculovirus / Q000187:drug effects
D000998:Antiviral Agents; D010936:Plant Extracts