In vitro interaction of nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, didanosine with calf-thymus DNA: Insights from spectroscopic studies

Research progress on antiviral constituents in traditional Chinese medicines and their mechanisms of action

CONTEXT

Viruses have the characteristics of rapid transmission and high mortality. At present, western medicines still lack an ideal antiviral. As natural products, many traditional Chinese medicines (TCM) have certain inhibitory effects on viruses, which has become the hotspot of medical research in recent years.

OBJECTIVE

The antiviral active ingredients and mechanisms of TCM against viral diseases was studied in combination with the pathogenesis of viral diseases and antiviral effects.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

English and Chinese literature from 1999 to 2021 was collected from databases including Web of Science, PubMed, Elsevier, Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2020 (CP), and CNKI (Chinese). Traditional Chinese medicines (TCM), active ingredients, antiviral, mechanism of action, and anti-inflammatory effect were used as the key words.

RESULTS

The antiviral activity of TCM is clarified to put forward a strategy for discovering active compounds against viruses, and provide reference for screening antivirus drugs from TCM. TCM can not only directly kill viruses and inhibit the proliferation of viruses in cells, but also prevent viruses from infecting cells and causing cytophilia. It can also regulate the human immune system, enhance human immunity, and play an indirect antiviral role.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Based on the experimental study and antiviral mechanism of TCM, this paper can provide analytical evidence that supports the effectiveness of TCM in treating virus infections, as well as their mechanisms against viruses. It could be helpful to provide reference for the research and development of innovative TCMs with multiple components, multiple targets and low toxicity.

In vitro cytotoxicity, antibacterial activity and HSA and ct-DNA interaction studies of chlorogenic acid loaded on γ-Fe2O3@SiO2 as new nanoparticles

In this study, nanoparticles with both anticancer and antibacterial features were synthesized through loading chlorogenic acid (CGA) of essential oils on magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs). Characterization of γ-Fe₂O₃@SiO₂-CGA MNPs was performed using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) that show effective coating of the MNPs with SiO₂ and CGA ligand and spherical shape of the nanoparticles with a mean diameter of 16 nm, respectively. The cytotoxicity study demonstrated that γ-Fe₂O₃@SiO₂-CGA MNPs had fewer toxic effects on normal cells (Huvec) than on cancerous cells (U-87 MG, A-2780 and A-549), and could be a new potential candidate for use in biological and pharmaceutical applications. The interaction of calf thymus deoxyribonucleic acid (ct-DNA) with γ-Fe₂O₃@SiO₂-CGA MNPs indicated that the anticancer activity might be associated with the DNA binding properties of γ-Fe₂O₃@SiO₂-CGA MNPs. Moreover, the interaction of γ-Fe₂O₃@SiO₂-CGA MNPs with human serum albumin (HSA) suggests that the native conformation of HSA was preserved at the level of secondary structure, indicating that the γ-Fe₂O₃@SiO₂-CGA MNPs do not show any cytotoxicity effect when they are injected into the blood. Antibacterial tests were performed and represented γ-Fe₂O₃@SiO₂-CGA MNPs attained better antibacterial function than CGA as free.