Activity of andrographolide against chikungunya virus infection

Sci Rep. 2015 Sep 18:5:14179. doi: 10.1038/srep14179.

Abstract

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a re-emerging mosquito-borne alphavirus that has recently engendered large epidemics around the world. There is no specific antiviral for treatment of patients infected with CHIKV, and development of compounds with significant anti-CHIKV activity that can be further developed to a practical therapy is urgently required. Andrographolide is derived from Andrographis paniculata, a herb traditionally used to treat a number of conditions including infections. This study sought to determine the potential of andrographolide as an inhibitor of CHIKV infection. Andrographolide showed good inhibition of CHIKV infection and reduced virus production by approximately 3log10 with a 50% effective concentration (EC50) of 77 μM without cytotoxicity. Time-of-addition and RNA transfection studies showed that andrographolide affected CHIKV replication and the activity of andrographolide was shown to be cell type independent. This study suggests that andrographolide has the potential to be developed further as an anti-CHIKV therapeutic agent.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Andrographis / chemistry
  • Animals
  • Antiviral Agents / pharmacology*
  • Cell Line
  • Cell Survival / drug effects
  • Chikungunya Fever / drug therapy
  • Chikungunya Fever / virology
  • Chikungunya virus / drug effects*
  • Chikungunya virus / physiology
  • Cricetinae
  • Diterpenes / pharmacology*
  • Gene Dosage / drug effects
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Viral / drug effects
  • Humans
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests
  • Plant Extracts / pharmacology
  • RNA, Viral
  • Viral Plaque Assay
  • Virus Replication / drug effects

Substances

  • Antiviral Agents
  • Diterpenes
  • Plant Extracts
  • RNA, Viral
  • andrographolide