Salviae and Cinnamomi Herbal Medicines have Antiviral Activity against a Broad Range of Human Immunodeficiency Virus

Abstract

Development of broadly effective anti-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 compounds is a high priority since the number of individuals having HIV infections continues to grow worldwide and vaccines are not available yet. From herbal extracts commonly used in humans, Salviae miltiorrhiza (Salviae), Cinnamomi Ramulus (Cinnamomi), Astragali Radix (Astragali), Asari Radix et Rhizome (Asari), Panax Ginseng (Korean red ginseng), we screened candidate herbal medicines and investigated their antiviral activity against a broad range of HIV-1 strains including clades A and C primary isolates that are dominantly found in Africa and India. Antiviral activity was determined based on the levels of inhibiting viral replication of infectious HIV-1 or infectivity of pseudovirion particles. Ginseng but not Astragali and Asari showed low to moderate levels of antiviral activity against HIV-1 strains. Most significantly, we found that Salviae and Cinnamomi showed a potent antiviral activity against antigenically and geographically different strains of HIV-1. In particular, Salviae extract reduced over 90% of infectivity of all strains tested including clades A, B, and C. The results in the present study provide evidence that Salviae and Cinnamomi extracts may have the potential to be developed for the discovery of novel anti-IV-1 microbicides or drugs which are applicable to a broad range of HIV-1 strains found in the developing and developed countries