Abstract
BackgroundTo contribute to the development of novel anti-influenza drugs, we investigated the anti-influenza activity of crude extracts from 118 medicinal plants collected in Myanmar. We discovered that extract from the stems of Jatropha multifida Linn. showed anti-influenza activity. J. multifida has been used in traditional medicine for the treatment of various diseases, and the stem has been reported to possess antimicrobial, antimalarial, and antitumor activities. However, the anti-influenza activity of this extract has not yet been investigated.MethodsWe prepared water (H2O), ethyl acetate (EtOAc), n-hexane (Hex), and chloroform (CHCl3) extracts from the stems of J. multifida collected in Myanmar, and examined the survival of Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells infected with the influenza A (H1N1) virus, and the inhibitory effects of these crude extracts on influenza A viral infection and growth in MDCK cells.ResultsThe H2O extracts from the stems of J. multifida promoted the survival of MDCK cells infected with the influenza A H1N1 virus. The EtOAc and CHCl3 extracts resulted in similar, but weaker, effects. The H2O, EtOAc, and CHCl3 extracts from the stems of J. multifida inhibited influenza A virus H1N1 infection; the H2O extract possessed the strongest inhibitory effect on influenza infection in MDCK cells. The EtOAc, Hex, and CHCl3 extracts all inhibited the growth of influenza A H1N1 virus, and the CHCl3 extract demonstrated the strongest activity in MDCK cells.ConclusionThe H2O or CHCl3 extracts from the stems of J. multifida collected in Myanmar demonstrated the strongest inhibition of influenza A H1N1 viral infection or growth in MDCK cells, respectively. These results indicated that the stems of J. multifida could be regarded as an anti-influenza herbal medicine as well as a potential crude drug source for the development of anti-influenza compounds.
Highlights
To contribute to the development of novel anti-influenza drugs, we investigated the anti-influenza activity of crude extracts from 118 medicinal plants collected in Myanmar
The viability of Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells treated with H2O, Ethyl acetate (EtOAc), Hex, or CHCl3 extract from the stems of J. multifida was unaffected after 24 h, compared with cells exposed to dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) only (Fig. 2a)
After 72 or 96 h of incubation, the viability of MDCK cells treated with 100 μg/mL H2O or 12.5-100 μg/mL CHCl3 extracts significantly reduced (Fig. 2b), whereas the viability of cells exposed to ≤ 50 μg/mL H2O, ≤ 100 μg/mL EtOAc and Influenza A viral growth assay To explore whether the extracts from the stems of J. multifida affected viral growth in pre-infected cells, MDCK cells were seeded in a 24-well plate (1 × 105 cells/well)
Summary
To contribute to the development of novel anti-influenza drugs, we investigated the anti-influenza activity of crude extracts from 118 medicinal plants collected in Myanmar. J. multifida has been used in traditional medicine for the treatment of various diseases, and the stem has been reported to possess antimicrobial, antimalarial, and antitumor activities. Many studies have focused on traditional medicinal plants as an important source of candidate compounds for the discovery of novel anti-influenza drugs. To discover sources for novel anti-influenza drugs, we screened extracts from 118 medicinal plants collected in Myanmar to analyze the cell viability of influenza A H1N1 virus (A/PR/8/34)-infected MDCK cells using naphthol blue black staining. We identified six medicinal plants that promoted the survival of influenza A virus-infected cells selected by the criteria described at the Methods section Of these six plants, the activity of extract from the stems of Jatropha multifida Linn (J. multifida) was strongly pronounced. Pharmacological and phytochemical investigations of J. multifida stems originating from Myanmar have not yet been conducted, which attracted us to investigate whether extracts from the stems of J. multifida, obtained using various solvents, possessed anti-influenza virus activity
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