Antiviral activity of Ceiba pentandra and Eugenia uniflora leaf extracts to dengue virus serotype-2 in Huh 7it-1 cell line

Abstract

Dengue Fever (DF) is an infectious disease caused by dengue virus (DENV) infection which is transmitted by Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquito bite. There are approximately 50 million DENV cases annually in the world with 500 thousand cases hospitalized. Incidence rate of DENV infection is increasing in Indonesia every year. Specific antiviral that can inhibit or mitigate the progression of the disease have been investigated for many decades. However, until now, management of DENV patients is only supportive. Specific antiviral drug to DENV is not available yet. The objective of this study is to determine antiviral activity of Ceiba pentandra and Eugenia uniflora leaf extract against DENV replication in Huh7it-1 cell line. Study design was an experimental study with a Focus assay and MTT assay to determine the effectivity and toxicity, respectively. Ceiba pentandra leaf extract showed IC50, CC50 and SI of 15.49 μg/ml, 81.1 μg/ml and 5.23. In other hand, E. uniflora revealed IC50, CC50, and SI of 19.83 μg/ml, 134.42 μg/ml and 6.78. We concluded that C. pentandra and E. uniflora leaf extract have potential as antiviral drug to DENV. Further studies are needed to explore the substance of C. pentandra and E. uniflora leaf extract that have antiviral activities to DENV.