Abstract
Nowadays, the HIV pandemic is far from controlled. HIV+/AIDS patients show a serious risk of developing resistance to HIV antiretroviral drugs and to be orally colonized by albicans and non-albicans Candida strains resistant to antifungals. As a consequence, new drugs that possess anti-candidal and anti-HIV effects would represent an alternative in the comprehensive treatment of HIV+/AIDS patients. The present study evaluates the possible anti-HIV and anti-Candida effects of a methanolic extract from Heteropterys brachiata (Hb MeOH), an American tropical plant. The anti-HIV effect of Hb MeOH was tested using a non-radioactive colorimetric method (Lenti RT® Activity Assay; Cavidi Tech) that uses reverse transcriptase of HIV-1 enzyme as enzymatic target. The anti-candidal effect of HbMeOH extract was evaluated by following a standardized test protocol of microdilution for yeast using the Candida albicans strain ATCC® 90028. The Hb MeOH at 1 mg/mL concentration shows 38.5% RT-HIV inhibition, while Hb MeOH at 10 mg/mL concentration produced 98% C. albicans growth inhibition. Our findings show that the Hb MeOH possesses a strong anti-candidal activity and moderate anti-HIV effect and suggests that the plant extract could be considered as a potential candidate for HIV/AIDS treatment.
Highlights
Following the Clinical & Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines that state that a strain is considered sensitive to a substance tested if the percentage if inhibition is greater than 50%, the C. albicans strains tested showed sensitivity to the methanolic extract from H. brachiata
Our findings showed that the methanolic extract from H. brachiata has moderate anti-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) inhibitory properties
Due the reverse transcriptase (RT) HIV-1 moderate-acting inhibition reported in our work, future anti-HIV investigations may consider escalating the metabolites detected in the HbMeOH extract to see if they can obtain a higher percentage of inhibition, and a variety of HIV targets for HbMeOH testing
Summary
In 2021, the pandemic caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has been around for 40 years [1]. In this frame time, a great amount of information has been accumulated on HIV and the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). The knowledge about the etiopathogenesis and natural history of the infection, as well as its prevention and the number of available treatments, has increased. In spite of these efforts, the HIV pandemic is far from controlled and its eradication is not expected in the short-term
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