Phytochemistry, cytotoxicity and antiviral activity of .

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

is generally used to treat many diseases in folklore remedies. The present study is aimed at determining phytochemical constituents, cytotoxicity and antiviral activities for crude extract of the plant.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The whole plant of was extracted using methanol extraction method. Phytochemical qualitative screening was carried out for extract according to standard procedures used to test for the presence of alkaloid, saponin, terpenoid and steroid. Cytotoxicity was assessed using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Plaque reduction assays were carried out to evaluate the antiviral activity of extract against herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). These include post-treatment, pre-treatment and virucidal assays.

RESULTS

extract contain secondary metabolites such as alkaloid, saponin and terpenoid but does not contain steroid. Cytotoxicity screening against Vero cells using MTT assay showed that the CC values for crude extract of was 0.5 mg/mL. The extract prepared from possesses phytochemical compound that was non-cytotoxic to the cell with potential antiviral activity. Plaque reduction assays against herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) showed that the selective indices (SI = CC / EC) of extract in post-treatment, pre-treatment and virucidal assays were 36, 20 and 4.7 respectively. The results revealed that the extract prepared from possesses phytochemical compound that was non-cytotoxic to the cell with potential antiviral activity.

CONCLUSION

This study showed that extract has promising potential to be explored as anti-HSV-1 agent regardless of the mode of treatment.