ABSTRACT:
Herpes simplex virus (HSV) type I and type 2 causes a variety of diseases including herpes labiles, keratoconjunctivitis, encephalitis, and herpes genitalis, along with the lifelong latent infection in sensory nerve ganglia. The available drugs for treating HSV infections have limited efficacy and frequently develop drug-resistant viruses. Since time immemorial ethnomedicinal plants have been used for diverse ailments including infectious diseases. Thus we have evaluated the anti-HSV potential of methanol extract of Boswellia serrata against Herpes Simplex Virus -1 (HSV-1) depending on its traditional usage in skin infections and standardization of the same with the active phytoconstituent. The antiviral activity of the extract and pure marker compound was determined by Cytotoxicity (CCso), Cytopathicity and median effective concentration (ECso), through MTT (3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-Diphenyltetrazolium Bromide) and plaque reduction assay. Standardization was carried out using boswellic acid as the standard marker by an isocratic RP-HPLC method (Waters 600), acetonitrile: water (0.1 M acetic acid, pH 3.0) was used as the mobile phase. Interestingly it was found that the crude methanol extract of B. serrata exhibited potent antiviral activity against HSV-IF than its active phytoconstituent boswellic acid. While in the methanol extract of B. serrata, the boswellic acid content was found to be 1.06 0.03 % (w/w) by RP- HPLC method. Thus, this study revealed that methanol extract of B. serrata and the active phyto-constituent (boswellic acid) possesses potent anti-HSV activity.