An evaluation of the inhibitory effects against rotavirus infection of edible plant extracts

Karen Knipping,Johan Garssen,Belinda Van’T Land

doi:10.1186/1743-422x-9-137

Abstract

BackgroundRotaviruses are the single most important cause of severe diarrhea in young children worldwide. The developments of specific, potent and accessible antiviral treatments that restrain rotavirus infection remain important to control rotavirus disease.Methods150 plant extracts with nutritional applications were screened in vitro on MA-104 cells for their antiviral activity against rhesus rotavirus (RRV). One extract (Aspalathus linearis (Burm.f.) R.Dahlgren) was also tested for its effect on the loss of transepithelial resistance (TER) of Caco-2 cells caused by simian rotavirus (SA-11) infection.ResultsAqueous extracts of Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn. fruit, Urtica dioica L. root, Aspalathus linearis (Burm.f.) R.Dahlgren leaves, Glycyrrhiza glabra L. root and Olea europaea L. leaves were found to have strong significant antiviral activity with a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) < 300 μg/ml. The pure compound 18ß-glycyrrhetinic acid from Glycyrrhiza glabra was found to have the strongest antiviral activity (IC50 46 μM), followed by luteolin and vitexin from Aspalathus linearis (IC50 respectively 116 μM and 129 μM) and apigenin-7-O-glucoside from Melissa officinalis (IC50 150 μM). A combination of Glycyrrhiza glabra L. + Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn. and Urtica dioica L. + Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn. showed synergy in their anti-viral activities. Aspalathus linearis (Burm.f.) R.Dahlgren showed no positive effect on the maintenance of the TER.ConclusionsThese results indicate that nutritional intervention with extracts of Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn., Aspalathus linearis (Burm.f.) R.Dahlgren, Urtica dioica L., Glycyrrhiza glabra L. and Olea europaea L. might be useful in the treatment of diarrhea caused by rotavirus infection.

Highlights

Rotaviruses are the single most important cause of severe diarrhea in young children worldwide
The viruses selected for this study were the simian rotavirus SA-11 strain (ATCC) and the rhesus rotavirus (RRV) strain, kindly provided by Dr Richard Ward, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, USA
The effect of two rotavirus strains on the transepithelial resistance (TER) with Caco-2 cells was first determined

Summary

Introduction

Rotaviruses are the single most important cause of severe diarrhea in young children worldwide. The developments of specific, potent and accessible antiviral treatments that restrain rotavirus infection remain important to control rotavirus disease. Rotavirus vaccines are expensive and may not be affordable for the developing world at present, compromising full vaccine coverage. This has reinforced the need to develop alternative approaches to control rotavirus disease. Many natural compounds have known antirotavirus effects in clinical studies [7,8,9], in animal experiments [10] and in vitro [11,12,13,14]. In the current study we investigated 150 edible plant extracts and some of their natural compounds for in vitro anti-rotavirus infection effects

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Conclusion