In vitro antiviral activity from Acanthospermum australe on herpesvirus and poliovirus.
BACKGROUND
The Asteraceae family has been of interest to researchers due to the presence of polyphenolic compounds, mainly flavonoids, which demonstrated antiviral activity.


OBJECTIVE
The hydroethanol extract of the aerial parts of Acanthospermum australe (Loefl.) Kuntze (Asteraceae) and its fractions, were evaluated in vitro for their potential cytotoxic and antiviral activity against bovine herpesvirus and human poliovirus.


METHODS
The sulforhodamine B colorimetric assay were used to evaluate the capacity of the hydroethanol extract and fractions to inhibit the lytic activity of herpes and poliovirus in infected cell cultures and their influence on the viability of uninfected cell cultures.


CONCLUSIONS
A progressive increase in the antiviral effect against herpesvirus was observed in the course of the purification process of the extract. The hydroethanol extract had a 50% antiviral effective concentration (EC(50)) at 70 μg/mL and 36 μg/mL for herpes and poliovirus, respectively, and it exhibited no cytotoxicity. The fractions F3 (dichloromethane) and F4 (dichloromethane: ethyl acetate (1:1 v/v)) both showed EC(50) at 6.25 μg/mL against herpesvirus, and these fractions showed cytotoxic concentrations (CC(50)) at 12.7 and 11.7 μg/mL, respectively. These fractions had no effect against poliovirus in the concentrations tested. From the bioactive F3, a diterpene lactone (acanthoaustralide-1-O-acetate) was isolated at a concentration of 0.5% and from F4 two flavonoids (quercetin and chrysosplenol D) were isolated at concentrations of 0.14 and 0.24%, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
The present study reports for the first time the antiviral activity of extracts and fractions from A. australe aerial parts.
Rocha Martins
Lucia Regina
LR
Departamento de Farmácia e Farmacologia, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Maringá PR, Brazil.
Brenzan
Mislaine Adriana
MA
Nakamura
Celso Vataru
CV
Dias Filho
Benedito Prado
BP
Nakamura
Tânia Ueda
TU
Ranieri Cortez
Lucia Elaine
LE
Garcia Cortez
Diógenes Aparício
DA
D000818:Animals; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000633:toxicity; D019659:Asteraceae / Q000737:chemistry*; D002417:Cattle; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D003124:Colorimetry / Q000379:methods; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D007242:Herpesvirus 1, Bovine / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D035261:Plant Components, Aerial; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000633:toxicity; D017955:Poliovirus / Q000187:drug effects*; D012235:Rhodamines; D018675:Toxicity Tests
D000998:Antiviral Agents; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D010936:Plant Extracts; D012235:Rhodamines; C022027:lissamine rhodamine B