In vitro anti-viral activity of the total alkaloids from Tripterygium hypoglaucum against herpes simplex virus type 1.
Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) is a commonly occurring human pathogen worldwide. There is an urgent need to discover and develop new alternative agents for the management of HSV-1 infection. Tripterygium hypoglaucum (level) Hutch (Celastraceae) is a traditional Chinese medicine plant with many pharmacological activities such as anti-inflammation, anti-tumor and antifertility. The usual medicinal part is the roots which contain about a 1% yield of alkaloids. A crude total alkaloids extract was prepared from the roots of T. hypoglaucum amd its antiviral activity against HSV-1 in Vero cells was evaluated by cytopathic effect (CPE) assay, plaque reduction assay and by RT-PCR analysis. The alkaloids extract presented low cytotoxicity (CC(50) = 46.6 μg/mL) and potent CPE inhibition activity, the 50% inhibitory concentration (IC(50)) was 6.5 μg/mL, noticeably lower than that of Acyclovir (15.4 μg /mL). Plaque formation was significantly reduced by the alkaloids extract at concentrations of 6.25 μg/mL to 12.5 μg/mL, the plaque reduction ratio reached 55% to 75 which was 35% higher than that of Acyclovir at the same concentration. RT-PCR analysis showed that, the transcription of two important delayed early genes UL30 and UL39, and a late gene US6 of HSV-1 genome all were suppressed by the alkaloids extract, the expression inhibiting efficacy compared to the control was 74.6% (UL30), 70.9% (UL39) and 62.6% (US6) respectively at the working concentration of 12.5 μg/mL. The above results suggest a potent anti-HSV-1 activity of the alkaloids extract in vitro.
Biomedicine Research and Development Center of Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China.
Zhe
Z
Ren
Chuan-hai
CH
Zhang
Lian-jun
LJ
Wang
Yun-xia
YX
Cui
Ren-bin
RB
Qi
Chong-ren
CR
Yang
Ying-jun
YJ
Zhang
Xiao-yi
XY
Wei
Da-xiang
DX
Lu
Yi-fei
YF
Wang
D000470:Alkaloids / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000633:toxicity; D000818:Animals; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000633:toxicity; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D003588:Cytopathogenic Effect, Viral / Q000187:drug effects; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000187:drug effects; D018259:Herpesvirus 1, Human / Q000187:drug effects*; D020128:Inhibitory Concentration 50; D050296:Microbial Viability / Q000187:drug effects; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000633:toxicity; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000737:chemistry; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000187:drug effects; D029757:Tripterygium / Q000737:chemistry*; D010948:Viral Plaque Assay; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis
D000470:Alkaloids; D000998:Antiviral Agents; D010936:Plant Extracts; D014764:Viral Proteins