title: Inhibition of hepatitis B virus and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) replication by Warscewiczia coccinea (Vahl) Kl. (Rubiaceae) ethanol extract.
abstract: The primary objective of this study was to search for natural products capable of inhibiting hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication. The research design, methods and procedures included testing hydro-alcoholic extracts (n = 66) of 31 species from the Venezuelan Amazonian rain forest on the cell line HepG2 2.2.15, which constitutively produces HBV. The main outcomes and results were as follows: the species Euterpe precatoria, Jacaranda copaia, Jacaranda obtusifolia, Senna silvestris, Warscewiczia coccinea and Vochysia glaberrima exerted some degree of inhibition on HBV replication. The leaves of W. coccinea showed a significant antiviral activity: 80% inhibition with 100 µg mL⁻¹ of extract. This extract also exerted inhibition on covalently closed circular deoxyribonucleic acid (cccDNA) production and on HIV-1 replication in MT4 cells (more than 90% inhibition with 50 µg mL⁻¹ of extract). Initial fractionation using organic solvents of increasing polarity and water showed that the ethanol fraction was responsible for most of the antiviral inhibitory activities of both the viruses. It was concluded that Warscewiczia coccinea extract showed inhibition of HBV and HIV-1 replication. Bioassay-guided purification of this fraction may allow the isolation of an antiviral compound with inhibitory activity against both viruses.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Virología Molecular, CMBC, Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas, Caracas, Venezuela.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Quintero
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fabbro
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maillo
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barrios
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Milano
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Michelangeli
authors.forename: H R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Rangel
authors.forename: F H
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Pujol
mesh_terms: D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002461:Cell Line, Transformed; D000431:Ethanol; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000187:drug effects*; D056945:Hep G2 Cells; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D019666:Rubiaceae / Q000737:chemistry*; D013997:Time Factors; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D010936:Plant Extracts; D000431:Ethanol