ANTIVIRAL ACTIVITY OF A METHANOL EXTRACT OF LYCORINE – RICH CLONE OF LEUCOJUM AESTIVUM L. AGAINST SUID HERPESVIRUS TYPE 1

Abstract

Suid herpesvirus type 1 (SHV-1) is one of the representatives of Herpesviridae with great importance in veterinary medicine and especially in pig industry and for that reason finding ways to prevent its transmission and spreading is crucial. Plants from Amaryllidaceae family contain various bioactive compounds, some of which have antiviral potential. One of those plant species is summer snowflake (Leucojum aestivum L), a well-known source of the phytochemicals which have variety of medical uses. One of them is lycorine, an alkaloid which is known for its various biological activities like including antiviral. In this study we examine the in vitro antiviral activity of a methanol extract obtained from a lycorine-rich clone of L. aestivum against A2 strain of Suid herpesvirus type 1. The experiments were performed on MDBK cell line, using different dilutions of the extract ranging from 1:5 to 1:320, obtained after dissolving in cell culture media. The focus on our research was to define not only whether there is an antiviral activity but also the mode of action, so we apply several different models: direct treatment of the virus suspension, cell pre-treatment before infection, treatment of infected cells, and effect on virus adsorption. Results reveal that direct treatment of the virus, before spiking of the MDBK cell, leads to block of the viral activity at plant extract dilution of 1:10.