Abstract
Over the course of the last 50 years, the emergence of several arboviruses have resulted in countless outbreaks globally. With a high proportion of infections occurring in tropical and subtropical regions where arthropods tend to be abundant, Asia in particular is a region that is heavily affected by arboviral diseases caused by dengue, Japanese encephalitis, West Nile, Zika, and chikungunya viruses. Major gaps in protection against the most significant emerging arboviruses remains as there are currently no antivirals available, and vaccines are only available for some. A potential source of antiviral compounds could be discovered in natural products—such as vegetables, fruits, flowers, herbal plants, marine organisms and microorganisms—from which various compounds have been documented to exhibit antiviral activities and are expected to have good tolerability and minimal side effects. Polyphenols and plant extracts have been extensively studied for their antiviral properties against arboviruses and have demonstrated promising results. With an abundance of natural products to screen for new antiviral compounds, it is highly optimistic that natural products will continue to play an important role in contributing to antiviral drug development and in reducing the global infection burden of arboviruses.
Highlights
Arthropod-borne viruses are a significant cause of human morbidity and mortality worldwide
This review article will summarize and discuss several studies on plant extracts, natural compounds including semi-synthetic derivatives, and synthetic compounds that have shown to demonstrate antiviral activity against dengue virus (DENV), Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), West Nile virus (WNV), Zika virus (ZIKV), and chikungunya virus (CHIKV) that have been published in the last decade
A study in rats showed that Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) can cross the placental barrier and spread to foetal tissues such as the brain, eyes, and heart [125]. These studies show that EGCG is a potential antiviral candidate capable of inhibiting several arboviruses, and would be especially helpful to treat or prevent neuroinvasive arboviruses like JEV, WNV, and ZIKV
Summary
Arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) are a significant cause of human morbidity and mortality worldwide. Molecules 2020, 25, 2796 spread may be accelerated by rapid urbanization, deforestation, global warming, and increased international travel and trade [3,4,5,6] These environmental and climate changes have brought people into more frequent contact with vectors, and have facilitated the expansion of vectors into new territories to cause disease [2,7,8]. The circulating arboviruses of public health concern in Asia can be classified into two groups: flaviviruses and alphaviruses These include the dengue virus (DENV), Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), West Nile virus (WNV), and Zika virus (ZIKV) which are flaviviruses, and chikungunya virus (CHIKV) which is an alphavirus (refer to Table 1) [10,11,12]. This review article will summarize and discuss several studies on plant extracts, natural compounds including semi-synthetic derivatives, and synthetic compounds that have shown to demonstrate antiviral activity against DENV, JEV, WNV, ZIKV, and CHIKV that have been published in the last decade
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