Researchers from Thailand isolated bioactive compounds from 33 Thai medicinal plants and evaluated their inhibitory activities against dengue virus (DENV) infection. They reported their findings in an article published in the journal Chemical Biology & Drug Design.

Food-derived bioactive proteins and peptides have therapeutic properties, and researchers are developing more and more interest in them.

Medicinal plants used in traditional medicine are also an excellent source of bioactive proteins and peptides, especially those prepared by water extraction and used to make tea or food supplements.

For their experiment, the researchers isolated novel bioactive peptides from enzymatic digests of 33 Thai medicinal plants.

Two peptides from the Acacia catechu (black cutch) extract displayed the strongest anti-DENV activity.

The A. catechu extract effectively inhibited DENV foci formation with an IC50 (half maximal inhibitory concentration) of 0.18 microgram (mcg)/milliliter (mL).

Treatment with the crude peptide extract (1.25 mcg/mL) also reduced virus production with no observable cell toxicity.

The researchers determined the sequence of the A. catechu peptides using high?performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and tandem liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry.

Two bioactive peptides from A. catechu inhibited DENV foci formation by more than 90 percent at the concentration of 50 microMolar.

Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that A. catechu is a great source of antiviral peptides against DENV infection that need to be further investigated.

Source:
courtesy of NATURALNEWS

by Evangelyn Rodriguez

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