Antiviral activity of Ferula assa-feotida on HSV-1, 2 in vitro

Javad  Charostad; Tahere  Navidfar; Masoumeh  Kiani; Paul  Schinitzler; Akram  Astani

doi:10.18502/ijm.v16i6.17257

Javad Charostad Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran
Tahere Navidfar Department of Basic Sciences, Shoushtar Faculty of Medical Sciences, Shushtar University of Medical and Science, Shushtar, Iran
Masoumeh Kiani Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran
Paul Schinitzler Department of Infectious Diseases, Virology, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
Akram Astani Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/ijm.v16i6.17257

Keywords: Ferula assa-foetida; Antiviral; Herpes simplex virus type 1; Herpes simplex virus type 2

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Medicinal plants are the primary treatment for many infectious and non-infectious diseases. In this study, we evaluated the antiviral activity of Ferula assa-feotida against herpes simplex viruses 1 and 2, and compared it with the antiviral drug acyclovir.

Materials and Methods: In our experimental study, Ferula assa-feotida was dissolved in DMSO, then diluted in DMEM medium. Acyclovir was used at a concentration of 100 μM in all procedures. The antiherpetic activity and Antiviral activity of Ferula were evaluated in Vero cells (African green monkey kidney cells) by using the plaque reduction assay.

Results: Inhibitory concentrations of 50% (IC) of Ferula assa-feotida for HSV-1 and HSV-2 were determined at 0.00025%and 0.00015%, respectively. Ferula was introduced at various stages of viral infection and significantly inhibited HSV-1 and HSV-2 infectivity by > 95.5% and 89%, respectively, when virus was pre-treated before addition to the cells. No HSV-1 or HSV-2 activity was detected in cells treated prior to and following viral infection.

Conclusion: These results indicate that Ferula assa-feotida demonstrates antiherpetic activity in the early phase of viral infection and could be used as potential antiviral agent.