Aim: To search for new antiviral agents from traditional Chinese medicine, specifically anti-enteroviruses agents.
Methods: The aqueous extracts (AE) of more than 100 traditionally used medicinal plants in China were evaluated for their in vitro anti-Coxsackie virus B3 activities with a MTT-based colorimetric assay.
Results: The test for AE of 16 plants exhibited anti-Coxsackie virus B3 activities at different magnitudes of potency. They can inhibit three steps (inactivation, adsorption and replication) during the infection. Among the 16 plants, Sargentodoxa cuneata (Oliv.) Rehd. et Wils., Sophora tonkinensis Gapnep., Paeonia veitchii Lynch, Spatholobus suberectus Dunn. and Cyrtomium fortunei J. sm. also have activity against other enterovirus, including Coxsackie virus B5, Polio virus I, Echo virus 9 and Echo virus 29. Cell cytotoxic assay demonstrated that all tested AE had CC50 values higher than their EC50 values.
Conclusion: The sixteen traditionally used medicinal plants in China possessed antiviral activity, and some of them merit further investigations.