title: Antiviral activity of silymarin against chikungunya virus.
abstract: The mosquito-borne chikungunya virus (CHIKV) causes chikungunya fever, with clinical presentations such as severe back and small joint pain, and debilitating arthritis associated with crippling pains that persist for weeks and even years. Although there are several studies to evaluate the efficacy of drugs against CHIKV, the treatment for chikungunya fever is mainly symptom-based and no effective licensed vaccine or antiviral are available. Here, we investigated the antiviral activity of three types of flavonoids against CHIKV in vitro replication. Three compounds: silymarin, quercetin and kaempferol were evaluated for their in vitro antiviral activities against CHIKV using a CHIKV replicon cell line and clinical isolate of CHIKV of Central/East African genotype. A cytopathic effect inhibition assay was used to determine their activities on CHIKV viral replication and quantitative reverse transcription PCR was used to calculate virus yield. Antiviral activity of effective compound was further investigated by evaluation of CHIKV protein expression using western blotting for CHIKV nsP1, nsP3, and E2E1 proteins. Briefly, silymarin exhibited significant antiviral activity against CHIKV, reducing both CHIKV replication efficiency and down-regulating production of viral proteins involved in replication. This study may have important consequence for broaden the chance of getting the effective antiviral for CHIKV infection.
authors.affiliation: Tropical Infectious Disease Research and Education Center (TIDREC), Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Rafidah
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lani
authors.affiliation: Tropical Infectious Disease Research and Education Center (TIDREC), Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Pouya
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hassandarvish
authors.affiliation: Tropical Infectious Disease Research and Education Center (TIDREC), Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Chun Wei
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Chiam
authors.affiliation: Tropical Infectious Disease Research and Education Center (TIDREC), Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Ehsan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Moghaddam
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular RNA Virology and Antiviral Strategies, Department of Microbiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Justin Jang Hann
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Technology, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rausalu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Technology, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.
authors.forename: Andres
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Merits
authors.affiliation: Biosecurity Research Institute, Kansas State University, Manhattan, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Higgs
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, USA.
authors.forename: Dana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vanlandingham
authors.affiliation: Tropical Infectious Disease Research and Education Center (TIDREC), Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Sazaly
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Abu Bakar
authors.affiliation: Tropical Infectious Disease Research and Education Center (TIDREC), Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Keivan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zandi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002460:Cell Line; D002646:Chikungunya virus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D003412:Cricetulus; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D044949:Kaempferols / Q000494:pharmacology; D011794:Quercetin / Q000494:pharmacology; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000235:genetics; D000077385:Silybin; D012838:Silymarin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014709:Vero Cells; D019562:Viral Load / Q000187:drug effects; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D044949:Kaempferols; D012367:RNA, Viral; D012838:Silymarin; D000077385:Silybin; C006552:kaempferol; D011794:Quercetin