Abstract
Stellaria media (Linn.) Villars is a traditional Chinese medicine that has been used for over 200 years, mainly for the treatment of dermatitis and other skin diseases. It has also been used as an anti-viral agent. All the fresh chickweed juice samples used in this study were prepared using macroporous resin and ultrafiltration technology. The anti-hepatitis B virus (HBV) activity of S. media was evaluated in vitro using the human HBV-transfected liver cell line HepG2.2.15. The concentrations of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) in HepG2.2.15 cell culture medium were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) after S. media-n (SM-n) treatment for 6 or 9 days. HBV DNA was quantified using transcription-mediated amplification and real-time polymerase chain reaction. In HepG2.2.15 cells, 30 μg/mL SM-3 effectively suppressed the secretion of HBsAg and HBeAg with inhibition rates of 27.92% and 25.35% after 6 days of treatment, respectively. Consistent with the reduction in HBV antigens, SM-3 also reduced the level of HBV DNA in a dose-dependent manner. The characterization and quantitation of the chemical composition of SM-3 showed the presence of flavonoid C-glycosides, polysaccharides, and protein, which exhibited diverse antiviral activities. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that SM-3 possesses potential anti-HBV activity in vitro. This is the first report demonstrating the anti-HBV effects of S. media, which is currently under early development as a potential anti-HBV drug candidate.
Highlights
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection frequently results in both acute and chronic hepatitis and remains a major health problem worldwide
The HepG2.2.15 cell line was established using a gene plasmid containing two heads and tails attached to the adw subtype of HBV transfected into human hepatoma cell lines
The total content of flavonoids was determined by UV using apigenin as the standard, and the characterization of their chemical composition was achieved by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC; Agilent 1100, Santa Clara, CA, USA) and liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry with ion trap mass analyser (LC/mass spectrometer (MS); Thermo LXQ, ESI, Waltham, MA, USA)
Summary
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection frequently results in both acute and chronic hepatitis and remains a major health problem worldwide. The use of nucleoside analogues for the treatment of HBV has disadvantages, such as the requirement for long-term therapy and high-drug resistance rate [6,7]. These agents are expensive [8,9]. Stellaria media (L.) Vill., commonly known as chickweed, is a Chinese folk medicine that belongs to the Caryophyllaceae flowering plant family, which characteristically contain typical C-glycosylflavones [1] This plant is distributed widely throughout China and contains many polysaccharides, flavonoids, cyclic peptides as well as other compounds, which exhibit extremely effective anti-inflammatory and antiviral activity [11]. This is the first report describing the anti-HBV activity of S. media, with great significance in research investigating the underlying mechanism of this activity
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