Attenuation of influenza virus infectivity with herbal-marine compound (HESA-A): an in vitro study in MDCK cells.

Parvaneh Mehrbod (1) , Aini Ideris (1, 2) , Abdul Rahman Omar (1, 2) , Mohd Hair-Bejo (2) , Sheau Wei Tan (1) , Masoumeh Tavassoti Kheiri (3) , Mansoureh Tabatabaian (3)

1 Institute of Bioscience
2 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
3 Influenza Research Laboratory

BACKGROUND: The influenza virus is still one of the most important respiratory risks affecting humans which require effective treatments. In this case, traditional medications are of interest. HESA-A is an active natural biological compound from herbal-marine origin. Previous studies have reported that the therapeutic properties of HESA-A are able to treat psoriasis vulgaris and cancers. However, no antiviral properties have been reported. METHODS: This study was designed to investigate the potential antiviral properties of HESA-A and its effects in modulating TNF-α and IL-6 cytokine levels. HESA-A was prepared in normal saline as a stock solution (0.8 mg/ml, pH = 7.4). Percentages of cell survival when exposed to different concentrations of HESA-A at different time intervals was determined by MTT assay. To study the potential antiviral activity of HESA-A, Madin-Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) cells were treated with the effective concentration (EC50) of HESA-A (0.025 mg/ml) and 100 TCID50/0.1 ml of virus sample under different types of exposure. RESULTS: Based on the MTT method and hemagglutination assay (HA), HESA-A is capable of improving cell viability to 31% and decreasing HA titre to almost 99% in co-penetration exposures. In addition, based on quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), it was found that HESA-A causes decrements in TNF-α and IL-6 cytokine expressions, which was significant for TNF-α (p ≤ 0.05) but not for IL-6. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, HESA-A was effective against influenza infection through suppressing cytokine expression.

Mots clés: HESA-A; H1N1; Influenza virus; Cytokine; TNF-α; IL-6

Domaines: Virologie

Parvaneh Mehrbod, Aini Ideris, Abdul Rahman Omar, Mohd Hair-Bejo, Sheau Wei Tan, et al.. Attenuation of influenza virus infectivity with herbal-marine compound (HESA-A): an in vitro study in MDCK cells.. Virology Journal, 2012, 9, pp.44. ⟨10.1186/1743-422X-9-44⟩. ⟨pasteur-00747078⟩