Abstract:
Dengue is an arboviral (insect-transmitted) infection of global concern. Currently, there
are still no specific dengue antiviral agents to treat the disease. Plant extracts have
been used in traditional medicine for treating various viral infections — thus, in the
present study, aqueous extracts of dried flowers of Aegle marmelos (AM), whole plant
of Munronia pinnata (MP) and leaves of Psidium guajava (PG) were investigated for
their potential capacity to inhibit dengue virus infection of Vero cells. The maximum
non-toxic dose (MNTD) and the 50% cytotoxic concentration (CC50) were determined
by using the MTT assay. A plaque reduction antiviral assay was carried out with
dengue virus types 1 (DV1), 2 (DV2), 3 (DV3) and 4 (DV4), in order to calculate the
half-maximum inhibitory concentration (IC50). AM extract inhibited all four virus
serotypes tested; MP extract inhibited DV1, DV2 and DV4, but not DV3; PG extract
inhibited DV1, DV2 and DV4, but not DV3. Thus, the results suggest that AM is a
promising candidate for the pan-serotype inhibition of dengue viral activity.
