In Vitro Studies of Some Medicinal Plants Extracts for Antiviral Activity against Rotavirus

Abstract

Every year, Rotavirus infection is responsible for over 600,000 childhood deaths worldwide, occurring mainly in developing countries in addition to infections of elderly people in nursing homes and compromised patients. In this study, we investigated in vitro antiviral activity of aqueous extracts of some medicinal plants including, garlic bulbs (Allium Sativum), ginger rhizomes (Zingiber officinale), pomegranate peel (Punica granatum) and Lemongrass leaves (Cymbopogon citratus) against rotavirus. The study was carried out using multiple approaches both at cellular level using cell live MA-104 such as the Plaque assay which used for determining the quantity of infectious virus and the MTT test (3-4,5-dimethythiazol-2yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) to estimate the cytotoxicity of the tested plant extracts. The results showed that the dilutions of crude extracts of Allium sativum gave mean inhibition percentage for rotavirus of 73.33% while Zingiber officinale gave 68.33%, Cymbopogon citrates gave 67.33% and Punica granatum gave 65% inhibited. All plants extract showed antiviral activities but statistically no significant differences of antiviral activity were found among these plant extracts. These findings suggested that the anti-rotaviral activity might be owing to the presence of various compounds such as flavonoids, terpenes, polyphenolic derivatives and other compounds that have been documented to possess antiviral properties.