Evaluation of anti-adenovirus activity of some plants from Lamiaceae family grown in Iran in cell culture

Abstract

The family Lamiaceae included some plants such as thyme species which have a lot of medical properties even in the Iranian traditional medicine. Some of these properties have not been approved by this original article. The aim of this study was to evaluate the anti-adenovirus effect of the three plants from Lamiaceae family (Thymus daenensis, Thymus vulgaris, Zataria multiflora) that was grown in Iran. The aqueous extracts of the plants were prepared and the essential oil of T. vulgaris was purchased. Cytotoxicity effects of the tested compounds were determined. The anti-adenovirus effects of maximum non-cytotoxic concentration of tested compounds were evaluated in cell culture with 100 TCID50 of adenovirus type 5 by three methods: Simultaneous, pre-treatment and post-treatment. For antiviral effect, only those concentrations were accepted that completely inhibit cytopathic effect of virus in cell culture. In simultaneous and post-treatment methods, minimum concentration that showed antiadenovirus activity was 12.5, 12.5, 25 and 50 μg/ml for T. daenensis, T. vulgaris, and Z. multiflora aqueous extracts and thyme essential oil, respectively. None of the tested compounds had shown  antiadenovirus effect in pre-treatment method. These results have suggested the potential use of these compounds for the treatment of the adenovirus infections.

Keywords: Adenovirus, antiviral effect, essential oil, extract, Lamiaceae family, Thymus daenensis, Thymus vulgaris, Zataria multiflora.