Abstract
(1) Background: Viral respiratory infections cause life-threatening diseases in millions of people worldwide every year. Human coronavirus and several picornaviruses are responsible for worldwide epidemic outbreaks, thus representing a heavy burden to their hosts. In the absence of specific treatments for human viral infections, natural products offer an alternative in terms of innovative drug therapies. (2) Methods: We analyzed the antiviral properties of the leaves and stem bark of the mulberry tree (Morus spp.). We compared the antiviral activity of Morus spp. on enveloped and nonenveloped viral pathogens, such as human coronavirus (HCoV 229E) and different members of the Picornaviridae family—human poliovirus 1, human parechovirus 1 and 3, and human echovirus 11. The antiviral activity of 12 water and water–alcohol plant extracts of the leaves and stem bark of three different species of mulberry—Morus alba var. alba, Morus alba var. rosa, and Morus rubra—were evaluated. We also evaluated the antiviral activities of kuwanon G against HCoV-229E. (3) Results: Our results showed that several extracts reduced the viral titer and cytopathogenic effects (CPE). Leaves’ water-alcohol extracts exhibited maximum antiviral activity on human coronavirus, while stem bark and leaves’ water and water-alcohol extracts were the most effective on picornaviruses. (4) Conclusions: The analysis of the antiviral activities of Morus spp. offer promising applications in antiviral strategies.
Highlights
The last decades have seen the lack of new therapeutic drug developments against infectious diseases
Human coronaviruses and several picornaviruses are responsible for regular worldwide epidemic outbreaks, representing a growing global public health problem
Considering the needs of new therapeutic strategies against pathogenic respiratory viruses like coronaviruses and picornaviruses, this study proposes to evaluate the potential activity of aqueous and hydromethanolic extracts from the stem barks and leaves of three different species of mulberry—Morus alba var. alba, Morus alba var. rosa, and Morus rubra on human coronavirus 229E and four different members of the Picornaviridae family—human poliovirus 1, human parechovirus 1 and 3, and human echovirus 11
Summary
The last decades have seen the lack of new therapeutic drug developments against infectious diseases. Picornavirus infections are the most common infections identified in patients of all ages, and during peak season, picornaviruses cause 82% of all episodes of acute nasopharyngitis [5,6]. Among these viruses, enteroviruses like poliovirus 1 (PV1), human echoviruses, and parechoviruses share common features—they are small (20–30 nm), nonenveloped, positive single-stranded RNA viruses, causing mild respiratory diseases; HPeV type 1 and 3 (HPeV1 and 3) and echovirus 11 (Echo 11)
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