Abstract
Monofloral Iranian honeys from eight floral sources were analyzed to determine their anti-HIV-1 activities as well as their effects on lymphocyte proliferation. The Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells (PBMCs) used in this study were prepared from five healthy volunteers who were seronegative for HIV, HCV, HBV and TB. The anti-HIV-1 activity of eight different honeys was performed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay and high pure viral nucleic acid kit. The results demonstrated that monofloral honeys from Petro selinum sativum, Nigella sativa, Citrus sinensis, Zataria multiflora, Citrus aurantium and Zizyphus mauritiana flowers had potent anti-HIV-1 activity with half maximal effective concentration (EC50) values of 37.5, 88, 70, 88, 105 and 5 µg/ml respectively. However, monofloral Iranian honeys from Astragalus gummifer and Chamaemelum nobile flowers had weak anti-HIV-1 activity. The frequency and intensity of CD4 expression on PBMCs increased in the presence of all honey types. CD19 marker were also increased after the treatment with monofloral honeys from Z.multiflora and N. sativa. The anti-HIV-1 agent in monofloral honeys from P.sativum, N. sativa, Z. multiflora and Z. mauritiana flowers was detected by spectroscopic analysis as methylglyoxal. Time of drug addition studies demonstrated that the inhibitory effect of methylglyoxal is higher on the late stage of HIV-1 infection. The result demonstrated that methylglyoxal isolated from monofloral honey types is a good candidate for preclinical evaluation of anti-HIV-1 therapies.
Highlights
The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is one of the most infectious agents causing disease and death through depletion of CD4 lymphocytes and immune-suppression [1]
Sativa, Z. mauritiana, P. sativum and Z. multiflora were more active to reduce the viral titer of HIV-1 DNA
AZT, a reverse transcriptase inhibitor, showed higher anti-HIV-1 activity when added between 0 and 6 hours post-HIV infection (Fig. 5). These data suggest that methylglyoxal inhibits HIV-1 infection by targeting viral life cycle after reverse transcription activity. These studies suggest that there is a striking correlation between anti-HIV-1 activity of Iranian honeys and floral sources
Summary
The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is one of the most infectious agents causing disease and death through depletion of CD4 lymphocytes and immune-suppression [1]. Some important secondary metabolites that are obtained from these products including alkaloids, flavonoids, sulphated polysaccharides, coumarines and triterpenes [5,6], have been described to inhibit different steps of viral replication such as reverse transcription process, virus entry and the integrase or protease activities [7,8]. The anti-HIV potency of insect products derived from honey were reported [13]. The variation of honey composition may be responsible for different biological activities [16]. Little information is available about biological activity of honey from different floral sources in Iran. In the present study, the anti-HIV1 effects of eight different monofloral honeys and their effects on expression of lymphocyte activation markers have been studied
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