Abstract
BackgroundAn antiviral drug is needed for the treatment of patients suffering from yellow fever. Several compounds present in plants can inactive in vitro a wide spectrum of animal viruses.AimIn the present study the inhibitory effect of essential oils of Lippia alba, Lippia origanoides, Oreganum vulgare and Artemisia vulgaris on yellow fever virus (YFV) replication was investigated.MethodsThe cytotoxicity (CC50) on Vero cells was evaluated by the MTT reduction method. The minimum concentration of the essential oil that inhibited virus titer by more than 50% (MIC) was determined by virus yield reduction assay. YFV was incubated 24 h at 4°C with essential oil before adsorption on Vero cell, and viral replication was carried out in the absence or presence of essential oil. Vero cells were exposed to essential oil 24 h at 37°C before the adsorption of untreated-virus.ResultsThe CC50 values were less than 100 μg/mL and the MIC values were 3.7 and 11.1 μg/mL. The CC50/MIC ratio was of 22.9, 26.4, 26.5 and 8.8 for L. alba, L origanoides, O. vulgare and A. vulgaris, respectively. The presence of essential oil in the culture medium enhances the antiviral effect: L. origanoides oil at 11.1 μg/mLproduced a 100% reduction of virus yield, and the same result was observed with L. alba, O. vulgare and A. vulgaris oils at100 μg/mL. No reduction of virus yield was observed when Vero cells were treated with essential oil before the adsorption of untreated-virus.ConclusionThe essential oils evaluated in the study showed antiviral activities against YFV. The mode of action seems to be direct virus inactivation.
Highlights
An antiviral drug is needed for the treatment of patients suffering from yellow fever
The objective of this study was to evaluate the inhibitory effect of essential oils obtained from Lippia alba, Lippia origanoides, Origanum vulgare and Artemisia vulgaris grown in Colombia on yellow fever virus (YFV) replication in vitro
Essential oils were tested for their cytotoxicity on Vero cell prior to the determination of their inhibitory effect against YFV
Summary
An antiviral drug is needed for the treatment of patients suffering from yellow fever. Yellow fever (YF) is a viral hemorrhagic fever endemic in South America and sub-Saharan Africa. It is caused by the yellow fever virus (YFV) that is transmitted to humans through the bite of the Aedes or Haemagogus mosquitoes [1]. Few patients (15%) develop severe disease with jaundice, renal dysfunction, myocardial injury, and a bleeding diathesis. The World Health Organization estimates that at least 200,000 cases of YF are reported each year, including 30,000 deaths [3] This is despite that YF is prevented by vaccination with a live attenuated strain (17D) of the YFV [4].
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