title: Anti-Hepatitis C Virus Activity of a Crude Extract from Longan (Dimocarpus longan Lour.) Leaves.
abstract: Infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) results in hepatitis C, a disease characterized by chronic infection, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Currently, the standard therapy is a combination of pegylated interferon-α plus ribavirin with NS3 protease inhibitors. Addition of NS3 protease inhibitors to the standard therapy improves response rates; however, use of NS3 protease inhibitors is also associated with significant adverse effects and an increase in the overall cost of treatment. Therefore, there is a need to develop safe and inexpensive drugs for the treatment of HCV infections. In this study, we examined the antiviral activity of a crude extract from Dimocarpus longan leaves against HCV (genotype 2a strain JFH1). The D. longan crude extract (DL-CE) exhibited anti-HCV activity with a 50% effective concentration (EC50) of 19.4 μg/ml without cytotoxicity. A time-of-addition study demonstrated that DL-CE has anti-HCV activity at both the entry and post-entry steps and markedly blocks the viral entry step through direct virucidal activity with marginal inhibition of virion assembly. Co-treatment of DL-CE with cyclosporine A, an immunosuppressant or telaprevir, an NS3 protease inhibitor, resulted in additive and synergistic antiviral effects, respectively. Our findings suggest that DL-CE may be useful as an add-on therapy candidate for treating HCV infections.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Indonesia.
authors.forename: Dadan Ramadhan
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Apriyanto
authors.forename: Chie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Aoki
authors.forename: Sri
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hartati
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hanafi
authors.forename: Leonardus Broto Sugeng
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Kardono
authors.forename: Ade
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arsianti
authors.forename: Melva
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Louisa
authors.forename: Tjahjani Mirawati
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Sudiro
authors.forename: Beti Ernawati
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Dewi
authors.forename: Pratiwi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sudarmono
authors.forename: Amin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Soebandrio
authors.forename: Hak
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hotta
mesh_terms: D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D016572:Cyclosporine / Q000494:pharmacology; D004357:Drug Synergism; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D020128:Inhibitory Concentration 50; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000494:pharmacology; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry*; D011480:Protease Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D029631:Sapindaceae / Q000737:chemistry*; D053586:Virus Internalization / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D009842:Oligopeptides; D010936:Plant Extracts; D011480:Protease Inhibitors; C486464:telaprevir; D016572:Cyclosporine