The antiviral activity was tested of different polarity extracts, with differing chemical composition, obtained from aerial parts of Heterophyllaea pustulata Hook f. (Rubiaceae) against Herpes Simplex Virus Type I (HSV-1) and Saint Louis Encephalitis Virus (SLEV). The Vero cell line was employed as a host cell for the antiviral assessment of benzene (Ben), ethyl acetate (EtOAc) and ethanol (EtOH) extracts by means of the Neutral Red uptake assay and plaque reduction test. None of the extracts showed antiviral activity against SLEV. Only the extracts (Ben and EtOAc) with a high content of anthraquinones (AQs) inhibited HSV-1 replication, exhibiting Selectivity Index (SI) values of 2.7 and 2.4, respectively. Therefore, these extracts could be good candidates as natural sources for antiviral drug development against HSV-1.
BacigalupoN.M. (1993) Rubiaceae. In Flora de la provincia de Jujuy. Tomo III, parte IX, CabreraA.L. (Ed.). Colección científica INTA, Buenos Aires, Argentina. 375–380.
2.
Núñez MontoyaS.C., AgneseA.M., PérezC., TiraboschiI.N., CabreraJ.L. (2003) Pharmacological and toxicological activity of Heterophyllaea pustulata anthraquinone extracts. Phytomedicine, 10, 569–574.
3.
Núñez MontoyaS.C., AgneseA.M., CabreraJ.L. (2006) Anthraquinone derivatives from Heterophyllaea pustulata. Journal of Natural Products, 69, 801–803.
4.
RathG., NdonzaoM., HostettmannK. (1995) Antifungal anthraquinones from Morinda lucida. International Journal of Pharmacognosy, 33, 107–114.
5.
AliA.M., IsmailN.H., MackeenM.M., YazanL.S., MohamedS.M., HoA.S.H., LajisN.H. (2000) Antiviral, cytotoxic and antimicrobial activities of anthraquinones isolated from the roots of Morinda elliptica. Pharmaceutical Biology, 38, 298–301.
6.
KoumagloK., GbeassorM., NikabuO., De SouzaC., WernerW. (1992) Effects of three compounds extracted from Morinda lucida on Plasmodium falciparum. Planta Medica, 58, 533–534.
7.
SittieA.A., LemmichE., OlsenC.E., HviidL., KharazmiA., NkrumahF.K., Brogger ChristensenS. (1999) Structure-activity studies: in vitro antileishmanial and antimalarial activities of anthraquinones from Morinda lucida. Planta Medica, 65, 259–261.
8.
CominiL.R., Núñez MontoyaS.C., PáezP.L., Argüello GustavoA., AlbesaI., CabreraJ.L. (2011) Antibacterial activity of anthraquinone derivatives from Heterophyllaea pustulata (Rubiaceae). Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology, 102, 108–114.
9.
CominiL.R., FernandezI.M., Rumie VittarN.B., Núñez MontoyaS.C., CabreraJ.L., RivarolaV.A. (2011) Photodynamic activity of anthraquinones isolated from Heterophyllaea pustulata Hook f. (Rubiaceae) on MCF-7c3 breast cancer cells. Phytomedicine, 18, 1093–1095.
10.
FatahzadehM., SchwartzR.A. (2007) Human herpes simplex virus infections: Epidemiology, pathogenesis, symptomatology, diagnosis, and management. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 57, 737–763.
11.
CarballalG., OubiñaJ.R. (1996) Virología Médica. 2nd ed., El Ateneo, Buenos Aires.
12.
HirschM.S., SchooleyR.T. (1989) Resistance to antiviral drugs: The end of innocence. The New England Journal of Medicine, 320, 313–314.
13.
LaughlinC.A., BlackR.J., FeinbergJ., FreemanD.J., RamseyJ., UsseryM.A., WhitleR.J. (1991) Resistance to antiviral drugs. American Society of Microbiology News, 57, 514–517.
14.
MorfinF., ThouvenotD. (2003) Herpes simplex virus resistance to antiviral drugs. Journal of Clinical Virology, 26, 29–37.
15.
LaBeaudA.D. (2008) Why arboviruses can be neglected tropical diseases. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 2, e247. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0000247
16.
FarnsworthN.R., AkereleO., BingelA.S., SoejartoD.D., GuoZ. (1985) Medicinal plants in therapy. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 63, 965–981.
17.
Forty-second World Health Assembly. Geneva, 8–19 M.A.Y. (1989) WHA42.43 Traditional medicine and modern health care. This document has been downloaded from the WHO/EMC Web site: http://search.who.int. July 29th, 2011.
18.
Núñez MontoyaS.C. (2002) Metabolitos secundarios en Heterophyllaea pustulata Hook. f. (Rubiáceas) [doctoral dissertation], School of Chemistry, National University of Córdoba.
19.
Andrighetti-FröhnerC.R., SinceroT.C.M., Da SilvaA.C., SaviL.A., GaidoC.M., BettegaJ.M.R., ManciniM., De AlmeidaM.T.R., BarbosaR.A., FariasM.R., BarardiC.R.M., SimoesC.M.O. (2005) Antiviral evaluation of plants from Brazilian Atlantic tropical forest. Fitoterapia, 76, 374–378.
20.
MaS-Ch, DuJ., ButPP-H, DengX-L, ZhangY-W, OoiVE-Ch, XuH-X, LeeSH-S, LeeS.F. (2002) Antiviral Chinese medicinal herbs against respiratory syncytial virus. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 79, 205–211.
Science Direct [internet database]. Oxford, United Kingdom: Elsevier; [access date August 19, 2011] Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/
23.
ContigianiM.S., SabattiniM.S. (1977) Virulencia diferencial de cepas de Virus Junín por marcadores biológicos en ratones y cobayos. Medicina, 37, 244–251.
24.
BorenfreundE., PuernerJ.A. (1985) Toxicity determined in vitro by morphological alterations and neutral red absorption. Toxicology Letters, 24, 119–124.
25.
OoiL.S.M., WangH., LukCh-W, OoiV.E.C. (2004) Anticancer and antiviral activities of Youngia japonica (L.) DC (Asteraceae, Compositae). Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 94, 117–122.
26.
LiuA-L, ShuS-H, QinH-L, LeeS.M.Y., WangY-T, DuG-H. (2009) In vitro anti-influenza viral activities of constituents from Caesalpinia sappan. Planta Medica, 75, 337–339.
27.
CholewaM., LeggeG.J.F., WeigoldH., HolanG., BirchC.J. (1994) The use of a scanning proton microprobe to observe anti-HIV drugs within cells. Life Sciences, 54, 1607–1612.
28.
OevermannA., EngelsM., ThomasU., PellegriniA. (2003) The antiviral activity of naturally occurring proteins and their peptide fragments after chemical modification. Antiviral Research, 59, 23–33.
29.
GescherK., KühnJ., HafeziW., LouisA., DerksenA., DetersA., LorentzenE., HenselA. (2011) Inhibition of viral adsorption and penetration by an aqueous extract from Rhododendron ferrugineum L. as antiviral principle against herpes simplex virus type-1. Fitoterapia, 82, 408–413.
30.
ChengH-Y, LinL-T, HuangH-H, YangCh-M, LinCh-Ch. (2008) Yin Chen Hao Tang, a Chinese prescription, inhibits both herpes simplex virus type-1 and type-2 infections in vitro. Antiviral Research, 77, 14–19.
