Anti-adenoviral substances isolated from medicinal plants: current status and future prospects

Development of safe and commonly approved antiviral therapy and/or immunotherapy for infections caused by human double-stranded DNA adenoviruses (HAdVs) in a variety of immunocompromised hosts as AIDS patients, hereditary immunodeficient subjects, pediatric solid organ or haematopoietic steam cell transplant recipients, is still a challenging issue. Thus, the recently reported advances in the development of extraction, identification, cytotoxicity evaluation, proteomic profiling and antiviral activity assays protocols used for search of substances with medicinal plant origin which indicated selective and potent activity against human adenoviruses causing a number of self-limiting mild respiratory, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, ocular and obesity-related [1,2] infectious disease has been reviewed. The performed meta-analysis of these research showed that a still limited set of the plant derived active compounds as some catechins, hydroxyflavones, metoxyflavones, polyphenol acids, depsides, pentacyclic triterpenes, and terpene alcohols has been identified to cause in vitro and in vivo effects on specific human adenovirus inactivation and growth. A significant anti-HAdV activity at non-toxic concentration for some fractions of ethanolic- or water-type extracts obtained from a restrained number of medicinal plants with ethno-medical background and belonging to different plant families have been also described. However, further and more intensified research is needed to elucidate the active constituents of these plants and to establish detailed mechanism of their anti-adenoviral and virucidal effects to enable development of effective and marketable anti-HAdVs agents.

Acknowledgements: Copernicus University, Torun, Poland (Internal Grant No. 407/2010).

References: 1. Jaworowska, A., Bazylak, G. (2006) Postepy Hig. Med. Dosw. 60(1): 227–251.

2. Jaworowska, A., Bazylak, G. (2007) Adv. Clin. Exp. Med. 16(6): 743–749.