In vitro evaluation of anti-chikungunya virus activities of tualang honey

Abstract

Chikungunya is an infection caused by chikungunya virus (CHIKV). Although chikungunya has affected many countries in recent times, specific treatment or licensed vaccine are non-existent. In this study the potential antiviral properties of Tualang honey against in vitro CHIKV infection was evaluated. Cytotoxic test was performed using the XTT Cell Viability assay to determine maximum non-toxic dose (MNTD) in Vero cells. Using plaque assay, the potential antiviral activities of Tualang honey at various non-toxic concentrations and treatment regimens were evaluated. Tualang honey demonstrated virucidal effect with maximum inhibition CHIKV observed was 99.71% (p< 0.05). Tualang honey also had a prophylactic property by conferring protection to Vero cells during pre-treatment assay, resulting in up to 98.22% reduction of CHIKV replication under certain treatment regimen. Furthermore, Tualang honey exhibited anti-viral activities, with as much as 94.87% inhibition following post-treatment assay of Tualang honey in CHIKV-infected Vero cells. Additionally, Tualang honey also affected viral entry up to 82.21% after 48 hours of infection. These results suggest that Tualang honey has wide anti-CHIKV activities in Vero cells and exerts its effect through different mechanisms although these need to be further validated in other cells or model of CHIKV infection.