Abstract
The hot water extract of a brown marine alga, Cystoseira myrica, from the Persian Gulf was evaluated as an antiviral compound against KOS strain of HSV-1 in cell culture. The extract exhibited antiviral activity against herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) not only during absorption of virus to the cells, but also on post attachment stages of virus replication. The water extract of C. myrica was sterilized by filtration and autoclaving, respectively. The IC50 for filtered extract was 99 µg/ml and the IC50 for autoclaved extract was 125 µg/ml. Based on resulted selectivity index (SI) values of the extracts, which were 33.4 and 28.2 for filtered and autoclaved extracts, respectively, we found that the antiviral compound(s) in the water extract of C. myrica to be heat stable. Also, the SI values for inhibition of the post attachment stages of HSV-1 replication were 23.1 and 21.7 for filtered and autoclaved extracts, respectively. The IC50 in this phase of study were 143 and 162 µg/ml for filtered and autoclaved extracts, respectively. Therefore, C. myrica could be a good candidate as a natural source for anti-HSV-1 compound(s) isolation. Key words: Cystoseira myrica, HSV-1, antiviral, Persian Gulf.
Highlights
The herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) is the primary cause of oral-facial and pharyngeal infections and may cause herpetic whitlow, as well as severe and sometimes dangerous infections of the eyes and brain
We found that 20 μg/ml of the autoclaved extract didn’t show any anti-HSV-1 effect; 200 μg/ml of that extract lead to 100% inhibition of HSV -1 related CPE formation
Interest in employing antiviral compounds from natural sources like plants or algae has been enhanced by researchers and the consumers’ preference for natural medicines and concerns about the toxic effects of synthetic antiviral materials
Summary
The herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) is the primary cause of oral-facial and pharyngeal infections and may cause herpetic whitlow, as well as severe and sometimes dangerous infections of the eyes and brain. Considering the complications of this virus, some synthetic antiviral compounds were developed for treatment of active herpetic infections, but they are not effective for the treatment of latent infections (Naesens and De Clercq, 2001). In many studies looking for novel antiviral agents, some plants and algae extracts were tested on different viruses including the herpes viruses (Yoosook et al, 1999; Lopez et al, 2001; Lee et al, 2004; Serkedjieva, 2004). In some of these experiments different species of brown algae were tested for their antiviral activity. In the present study, the anti-HSV-1 activity of the crude water extract of this alga was evaluated in cell culture
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