In Vitro and in Vivo Anti-Influenza Virus Activity of Diarylheptanoids Isolated from Alpinia Officinarum

Alpinia officinarum Hance: a comprehensive review of traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacokinetic and pharmacology

The dried root and rhizome of Alpinia officinarum Hance (A. officinarum) have been widely used in traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years to alleviate pain, promote digestion, warm the stomach, and disperse cold. This review aims to comprehensively and in-depth summarize the most recent research on the traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacology of A. officinarum. By searching various databases including Web of Science, PubMed, Google Scholar, Elsevier, Springer, ScienceDirect, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) for literature on "A. officinarum Hance," as well as relevant textbooks and digital documents, an overall and critical review of the subject was conducted. The traditional uses of A. officinarum were summarized, and 337 compounds from A. officinarum were summarized, including flavonoids, diarylheptanoids, volatile oils, and other compounds. Studies have found that the crude extract of A. officinarum and its compounds has a wide range of biological activities, such as improving gastrointestinal function, anti-inflammatory properties, anti-tumor activity, antibacterial properties, memory enhancement, and analgesic effects. Modern pharmacological studies have provided strong evidence and explanations for the traditional medicinal uses of A. officinarum, which brings a broad prospect for its medicinal use. However, more research is needed to explore the structure-activity relationship and potential mechanisms of action of its bioactive chemicals. Furthermore, it is essential to conduct more clinical trials in order to accelerate research and development of the drug.

A review on the effective natural compounds of medicinal plants on the COVID-19

In this review out of 300 selected articles 70 articles were evaluated, and the most significant compounds impacting COVID-19 and their mechanism of action were introduced. The compounds belong to four categories as follow: Phenolic, Flavonoid, Terpenoid, and Alkaloid compounds. In the phenol groups, the most effective compounds are scutellarin (suppressor of COVID-19 virus), thymol and carvacrol (the most inhibitory effect on COVID-19 virus), in the flavonoid groups, hesperdin (a strong inhibitor on COVID-19), in the terpenoids, methyl tanshinonate and sojil COVID-19 inhibitory effect) and 1,8-cineol (COVID-19 inhibitory effect) and in the last group, niglidine and quinoline alkaloid compounds (COVID-19 inhibitory effect) have been identified and introduced. These compounds have shown promising results due to their structure and effective mechanisms on COVID-19, so it can be an idea for researchers in this field to try to produce drugs by using natural compounds against the COVID-19 and Corona viruses.

Specialized metabolites from plants as a source of new multi-target antiviral drugs: a systematic review

Viral infections have always been the main global health challenge, as several potentially lethal viruses, including the hepatitis virus, herpes virus, and influenza virus, have affected human health for decades. Unfortunately, most licensed antiviral drugs are characterized by many adverse reactions and, in the long-term therapy, also develop viral resistance; for these reasons, researchers have focused their attention on investigating potential antiviral molecules from plants. Natural resources indeed offer a variety of specialized therapeutic metabolites that have been demonstrated to inhibit viral entry into the host cells and replication through the regulation of viral absorption, cell receptor binding, and competition for the activation of intracellular signaling pathways. Many active phytochemicals, including flavonoids, lignans, terpenoids, coumarins, saponins, alkaloids, etc., have been identified as potential candidates for preventing and treating viral infections. Using a systematic approach, this review summarises the knowledge obtained to date on the in vivo antiviral activity of specialized metabolites extracted from plant matrices by focusing on their mechanism of action.

Investigation of the Potential Mechanism of Alpinia officinarum Hance in Improving Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Based on Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking

Objective

We used network pharmacology, molecular docking, and cellular analysis to explore the pharmacodynamic components and action mechanism of Alpinia officinarum Hance (A. officinarum) in improving type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Methods

The protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, Gene Ontology (GO), and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses were performed to predict the potential targets and mechanism of A. officinarum toward improving T2DM. The first 9 core targets and potential active compounds were docked using Discovery Studio 2019. Finally, IR-HepG2 cells and qPCR were applied to determine the mRNA expression of the top 6 core targets of the PPI network.

Results

A total of 29 active ingredients and 607 targets of A. officinarum were obtained. T2DM-related targets overlapped with 176 targets. The core targets of the PPI network were identified as AKT serine/threonine kinase 1 (AKT1), an activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), tumor protein p53 (TP53), SRC proto-oncogene, nonreceptor tyrosine kinase (SRC), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), albumin (ALB), mitogen-activated protein kinase 1 (MAPK1), and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARG). A. officinarum performs an antidiabetic role via the AGE-RAGE signaling pathway, the HIF-1 signaling pathway, the PI3K-AKT signaling pathway, and others, according to GO and KEGG enrichment analyses. Molecular docking revealed that the binding ability of diarylheptanoid active components in A. officinarum to core target protein was higher than that of flavonoids. The cell experiments confirmed that the A. officinarum extracts improved the glucose uptake of IR-HepG2 cells and AKT expression while inhibiting the STAT3, TNF, TP53, SRC, and EGFR mRNA expression.

Conclusion

A. officinarum Hance improves T2DM by acting on numerous components, multiple targets, and several pathways. Our results lay the groundwork for the subsequent research and broaden the clinical application of A. officinarum Hance.

Epigallocatechin Gallate Stabilized by Cyclodextrin Inactivates Influenza Virus and Human Coronavirus 229E

Natural products are attractive antiviral agents because they are environment-friendly and mostly harmless. Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCg), a type of catechin, is a well-known natural antiviral agent that can inhibit various viruses. However, EGCg easily oxidizes and loses its physiological activity. Although this problem can be overcome by combining EGCg with cyclodextrin (CD-EGCg), which makes it stable in water at high concentrations, the antiviral effect of this compound remains unclear. Here, we show that in Madin–Darby canine kidney (MDCK) and MRC-5 cells, CD-EGCg is cytotoxic for 50% of cells at 85.61 and 65.34 ppm, respectively. Furthermore, CD-EGCg mainly shows its antiviral effect during the adsorption step for all four influenza virus strains (median effect concentration (EC₅₀) was 0.93 to 2.78 ppm). Its antiviral effect post-adsorption is less intense, and no inhibitory effect is observed on influenza viruses pre-adsorption. Moreover, human coronavirus 229E (HCoV-229E) was inhibited at the adsorption step in short contact (EC₅₀ = 2.5 ppm) and long contact conditions (EC₅₀ = 0.5 ppm) by mixing CD-EGCg with HCoV-229E. These results suggest that CD-EGCg effectively inhibits various viruses that require an adsorption step, and is an effective tool for preventing infection.

A Review on the Potential Species of the Zingiberaceae Family with Anti-viral Efficacy Towards Enveloped Viruses

Natural products are a great wellspring of biodiversity for finding novel antivirals, exposing new interactions between structure and operation and creating successful defensive or remedial methodologies against viral diseases. The members of Zingiberaceae traditional plant and herbal products have robust anti-viral action, and their findings will further lead to the production of derivatives and therapeutic. Additionally, it highlights the insight of utilizing these phytoextracts or their constituent compounds as an emergency prophylactic medicine during the pandemic or endemic situations for novel viruses. In this connection, this review investigates the potential candidates of the Zingiberaceae family, consisting of bioactive phytocompounds with proven antiviral efficacy against enveloped viruses. The present study was based on published antiviral efficacy of Curcuma longa, Zingiber officinale, Kaempferia parviflora, Aframomum melegueta Elettaria cardamomum, Alpina Sps (belongs to the Zingiberaceae family) towards the enveloped viruses. The relevant data was searched in Scopus”, “Scifinder”, “Springer”, “Pubmed”, “Google scholar” “Wiley”, “Web of Science”, “Cochrane “Library”, “Embase”, Dissertations, theses, books, and technical reports. Meticulously articles were screened with the subject relevancy and categorized for their ethnopharmacological significance with in-depth analysis. We have comprehensively elucidated the antiviral potency of phytoextracts, major composition, key compounds, mode of action, molecular evidence, immunological relevance, and potential bioactive phytocompounds of these five species belonging to the Zingiberaceae family. Conveniently, these phytoextracts exhibited multimode activity in combating the dreadful enveloped viruses.

Inactivation of plant and animal viruses by proanthocyanidins from Alpinia zerumbet extract

Alpinia zerumbet (Pers.) B.L. Burtt and R.M. Smith belongs to the Alpinia genus in the Zingiberaceae family. In East Asia, Alpinia zerumbet has been widely used as food and traditional medicine. Previously, we identified proanthocyanidins (PACs), an anti-plant-virus molecule in A. zerumbet, using Nicotiana benthamiana and tomato mosaic virus (ToMV). Here, we found that PACs from A. zerumbet, apple, and green tea effectively inhibited ToMV infection. Additionally, the PACs from A. zerumbet exhibited greater antiviral activity than those from apple and green tea. The PACs from A. zerumbet also effectively inactivated influenza A virus and porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), which acts as a surrogate for human coronaviruses, in a dose-dependent manner. The results from the cytopathic effect assays indicated that 0.1 mg/ml PACs from A. zerumbet decreased the titer of influenza A virus and PEDV by >3 log. These findings suggested that the direct treatment of viruses with PACs from A. zerumbet before inoculation reduced viral activity; thus, PACs might inhibit infections by an influenza virus, coronaviruses, and plant viruses.

Natural Products & Bioactivity Inspired Synthetic Pursuits Interfacing with Carbohydrates: Ongoing Journey with C-Glycosides

Natural products, remains the most important source for the discovery of new drugs for the treatment of human diseases. This has inspired the synthetic community to design and develop mimics of natural products either to answer important questions in biology or to explore their therapeutic potentials. Glycosides present themselves abundantly in nature, right from the cell surface receptors to natural products of any origin. The O-Glycosides are hydrolytically less stable compared to C-glycosides and this feature has presented a great opportunity for drug discovery. The discovery of Dapagliflozin, an SGLT inhibitor and C-glucoside, for the treatment of diabetes is one such example. Aryl acyl-anion chemistry has been explored for the synthesis of 2-deoxy-C-aryl furanoside/pyranoside/septanosides. Besides success, the studies have provided valuable insight into the natural propensities of the architectural framework for the cascade to furan derivatives. The aryl acyl-anion chemistry has also enabled the synthesis of biologically active diaryl heptanoids. Inspired from sucesss of Dapagliflozin, new analogues have been synthesized with pyridine and isocoumarin heterocycle as the proximal ring. C-glucosides of isoliquiritigenin have been synthesized for the first time and evaluated as an efficient aldose reductase inhibitor. The synthesis and evaluation of acyl-C-β-D-glucosides and benzyl-C-β-D-glucoside as glucose-uptake promoters has revealed promise in small molecules. The concept of building blocks has been used to obtain natural oxylipins, D-xylo and L-xylo-configured alkane tetrols and novel lipophilic ketones with erythro/threo configured trihydroxy polar head-group as possible anti-mycobacterial agents.

Substantial effect of phytochemical constituents against the pandemic disease influenza-a review

Background

Influenza is an acute respiratory tract infection caused by the influenza virus. Vaccination and antiviral drugs are the two methods opted to control the disease. Besides their efficiency, they also cause adverse side effects. Hence, scientists turned their attention to powerful herbal medicines. This review put focus on various proven, scientifically validated anti-influenza compounds produced by the plants suggested for the production of newer drugs for the better treatment of influenza and its related antiviral diseases too.

Main body

In this review, fifty medicinal herb phytochemical constituents and their anti-influenza activities have been documented. Specifically, this review brings out the accurate and substantiates mechanisms of action of these constituents. This study categorizes the phytochemical constituents into primary and secondary metabolites which provide a source for synthesizing and developing new drugs.

Conclusion

This article provides a summary of the actions of the herbal constituents. Since the mechanisms of action of the components are elucidated, the pandemic situation arising due to influenza and similar antiviral diseases can be handled promisingly with greater efficiency. However, clinical trials are in great demand. The formulation of usage may be a single drug compound or multi-herbal combination. These, in turn, open up a new arena for the pharmaceutical industries to develop innovative drugs.

Synthesis of Bioactive Diarylheptanoids from Alpinia officinarum and Their Mechanism of Action for Anticancer Properties in Breast Cancer Cells

An efficient synthesis of the Alpinia officinarum-derived diarylheptanoids, viz., enantiomers of a β-hydroxyketone (1) and an α,β-unsaturated ketone (2) was developed starting from commercially available eugenol. Among these, compound 2 showed a superior antiproliferative effect against human breast adenocarcinoma MCF-7 cells. Besides reducing clonogenic cell survival, compound 2 dose-dependently increased the sub G1 cell population and arrested the G2-phase of the cell cycle, as revealed by flow cytometry. Mechanistically, compound 2 acts as an intracellular pro-oxidant by generating copious amounts of reactive oxygen species. Compound 2 also induced both loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) as well as lysosomal membrane permeabilization (LMP) in the MCF-7 cells. The impaired mitochondrial and lysosomal functions due to reactive oxygen species (ROS)-generation by compound 2 may contribute to its apoptotic property.

Anti-inflammatory activity of naturally occuring diarylheptanoids - A review

Inflammation involving the innate and adaptive immune systems is a normal response to infection. However, if it becomes uncontrolled, inflammation may result in autoimmune or auto inflammatory disorders, neurodegenerative diseases or cancers. The currently available anti-inflammatory drug therapy is often not successful or induces severe side effects. Thus, the search of new therapeutic options for the treatment of inflammation is highly required. Medicinal plants have been an interesting source for obtaining new active compounds. Diarylheptanoids characterized by a 1, 7-diphenylheptane structural skeleton, are a class of secondary plant metabolites that have gained increasing interest over the last few decades due to a wide variety of biological activities. This review covers 182 natural linear or macrocyclic diarylheptanoids described in the period of 1982 to 2020 with anti-inflammatory activities evaluated using quantified in vitro and/or in vivo assays. All of these data highlight the pharmacological potential of these natural compounds to act as anti-inflammatory drugs.

An Evaluation of Traditional Persian Medicine for the Management of SARS-CoV-2

A new coronavirus causing severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-2) has emerged and with it, a global investigation of new antiviral treatments and supportive care for organ failure due to this life-threatening viral infection. Traditional Persian Medicine (TPM) is one of the most ancient medical doctrines mostly known with the manuscripts of Avicenna and Rhazes. In this paper, we first introduce a series of medicinal plants that would potentially be beneficial in treating SARS-CoV-2 infection according to TPM textbooks. Then, we review medicinal plants based on the pharmacological studies obtained from electronic databases and discuss their mechanism of action in SARS-CoV-2 infection. There are several medicinal plants in TPM with cardiotonic, kidney tonic, and pulmonary tonic activities, protecting the lung, heart, and kidney, the three main vulnerable organs in SARS-CoV-2 infection. Some medicinal plants can prevent "humor infection", a situation described in TPM which has similar features to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Pharmacological evaluations are in line with the therapeutic activities of several plants mentioned in TPM, mostly through antiviral, cytoprotective, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-apoptotic mechanisms. Amongst the primarily-introduced medicinal plants from TPM, rhubarb, licorice, garlic, saffron, galangal, and clove are the most studied plants and represent candidates for clinical studies. The antiviral compounds isolated from these plants provide novel molecular structures to design new semisynthetic antiviral agents. Future clinical studies in healthy volunteers as well as patients suffering from pulmonary infections are necessary to confirm the safety and efficacy of these plants as complementary and integrative interventions in SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Herbal Medicines with Antiviral Activity Against the Influenza Virus, a Systematic Review

The rapidly changing influenza virus has remained a consistent threat to the well-being of a variety of species on the planet. Influenza virus' high mutation rate has allowed the virus to rapidly and continuously evolve, as well as generate new strains that are resistant to the current commercially available antivirals. Thus, the increased resistance has compelled the scientific community to explore alternative compounds that have antiviral effects against influenza virus. In this paper, the authors systematically review numerous herbal extracts that were shown to have antiviral effects against the virus. Specifically, the herbal antiviral targets mainly include hemagglutinin, neuraminidase and matrix 2 proteins. In some instances, herbal extracts inhibited the replication of oseltamivir-resistant strains and certain pentacyclic triterpenes exhibited higher antiviral activity than oseltamivir. This paper also explores the possibility of targeting various host-cell signaling pathways that are utilized by the virus during its replication process. Infected cell pathways are hijacked by intracellular signaling cascades such as NF-kB signaling, PI3K/Akt pathway, MAPK pathway and PKC/PKR signaling cascades. Herbal antivirals have been shown to target these pathways by suppressing nuclear export of influenza vRNP and thus inhibiting the phosphorylation signaling cascade. In conclusion, copious amounts of herbal antivirals have been shown to inhibit influenza virus, however further studies are needed for these new compounds to be up to modern pharmacological standards.

Comparison of the effects of pachymic acid, moronic acid and hydrocortisone on the polysome loading of RNAs in lipopolysaccharide-treated THP-1 macrophages

We have proposed that analysis of ribosome-loaded mRNAs (i.e., the translatome) is useful for elucidation of pharmacological effects of phytocompounds in immune cells, regarding the involvement of post-transcriptional regulation mechanisms. In the present study, we compared the effects of pachymic acid from Poria cocos fungus and moronic acid from propolis with those of hydrocortisone on the translatomes of THP-1 macrophages exposed to bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to find clues to their biological effects. Polysome-associated RNAs collected from cells treated for 3 h with LPS plus each of the compounds were analyzed by DNA microarray followed by analyses of pathways/gene ontologies (GO). Upregulated mRNAs in enriched pathways that were found to contain AUUUA (AU)-rich motifs were checked by real-time PCR, and expression of candidate RNA-binding proteins stabilizing/destabilizing such AU-rich mRNAs was checked by Western blotting. The numbers of upregulated and downregulated genes (fold-changes ± 2.0 versus vehicle-control) were, respectively, 209 and 125 for moronic acid, 23 and 2 for pachymic acid, and 214 and 59 for hydrocortisone treatment. Overlapping with hydrocortisone treatment for upregulation were 158 genes in moronic acid and 17 in pachymic acid treatment; of these, 16 overlapped within all treatments (C-X-C motif chemokine ligands, interferon-induced protein with tetratricopeptide repeats, etc.). Pathway analyses showed GO enrichments such as 'immune response', 'receptor binding', 'extracellular space' etc. The pachymic acid-upregulated mRNAs (highly overlapped with the other 2 treatments) showed the presence of signal peptides and AU-rich motifs, suggesting regulation by AU-rich element (ARE)-binding proteins. The expression of ARE-binding protein HuR/ELAV-1 was increased by the 3 compounds, and AUF1/hnRNP D was decreased by pachymic acid. These results suggested that pachymic acid and moronic acid effects may involve as yet unknown post-transcriptional modulation via ARE-binding proteins resembling that of glucocorticoids.

A review on the ethnomedicinal uses, phytochemistry and pharmacology of Alpinia officinarum Hance

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Alpinia officinarum Hance is a perennial plant that has been traditionally used for many decades to treat several ailments including inflammation, pain, stomach-ache, cold, amongst others. Pharmacological studies over the years have demonstrated remarkable bioactivities that could be further explored for development of new therapeutic agents against various ailments.

AIM OF THE STUDY

The paper critically reviewed the ethno-medicinal uses, pharmacology, and phytochemistry of A. officinarum.

METHODS

Keywords including A. officinarum and its synonyms were searched using electronic databases including ISI web of knowledge, Science direct, Scopus, PubMed, Google scholar and relevant database for Masters and Doctoral theses.

RESULTS

A. officinarum is prepared in Asia, Turkey, Morocco and Iran as a decoction, infusion or juice as a single preparation or in combination with other herbs, food or drinks for the treatment of general health problems including cold, inflammation, digestive disorders, etc. Pharmacological studies revealed the potent in vitro and in vivo bioactivities of various parts of A. officinarum that include anti-inflammatory, cytotoxicity, homeostasis, lipid regulation, antioxidant, antiviral, antimicrobial, antiosteoporosis, etc. Over 90 phytochemical constituents have been identified and isolated from A. officinarum comprising vastly of phenolic compounds especially diarylheptanoids isolated from the rhizome and considered the most active bioactive components.

CONCLUSION

In vitro and in vivo studies have confirmed the potency of A. officinarum. However, further studies are required to establish the mechanisms mediating its bioactivities in relation to the medicinal uses as well as investigating any potential toxicity for future clinical studies.

Characterization of diarylheptanoids: An emerging class of bioactive natural products

Diarylheptanoids are a class of secondary plant metabolites with a wide variety of bioactivity. Research on their phytochemistry and phytoanalysis is rapidly growing and the number of identified structures bearing the aryl-C₇-aryl skeleton is at present approaching 500. Historically, the yellow pigment curcumin has been characterized as the first diarylheptanoid and the extensive research on naturally occurring analogues is still ongoing. In this review, studies dealing with the characterization of linear and cyclic derivatives are discussed from the phytoanalytical point of view. Isolation, fractionation and purification strategies from natural sources along with their chromatographic behavior and structural characteristics are discussed. The role of various techniques used for the extraction (such as Soxhlet extraction, sonication, maceration/percolation, microwave-assisted extraction, supercritical carbon dioxide extraction); isolation (liquid-liquid extraction, column chromatographic techniques, preparative thin-layer and high-performance liquid chromatography, centrifugal partition chromatography, counter-current chromatography); separation (thin-layer chromatography, high-performance liquid chromatography, gas chromatography, capillary electrophoresis) and structural characterization (UV/Vis spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography, mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and circular dichroism spectroscopy) are critically reviewed.

Anti-inflammatory effects of alpinone 3-acetate from Alpinia japonica seeds

We aimed to investigate the bioactive components of Alpinia japonica as anti-inflammatory compounds using searches of the Alpinia genus, and subsequently demonstrated that alpinone 3-acetate markedly inhibits 12-O-tetradecanoyiphorbol 13-acetate-induced inflammation in a mouse model of ear edema. To assess other bioactivities of alpinone 3-acetate, we performed translatome analyses and compared them with those of hydrocortisone. Polysome-associated mRNAs were prepared from alpinone 3-acetate- or hydrocortisone-treated and control cells from 12-O-tetradecanoyiphorbol 13-acetate-induced THP-1-derived macrophages cultured in the presence of Escherichia coli O-111 lipopolysaccharide. Subsequent microarray analysis revealed that alpinone 3-acetate and hydrocortisone upregulated and downregulated the same 155 and 41 genes, respectively. Moreover, direct comparisons of translationally regulated genes indicated 5 and 10 gene probes that were upregulated and downregulated by alpinone 3-acetate and hydrocortisone, respectively. In conclusion, assays of 12-O-tetradecanoyiphorbol 13-acetate-induced inflammation ear edema in mice and polysome profiling of alpinone 3-acetate bioactivities indicated similar medicinal possibilities to those of hydrocortisone.

Kolaviron Improves Morbidity and Suppresses Mortality by Mitigating Oxido-Inflammation in BALB/c Mice Infected with Influenza Virus

Influenza A viruses (IAV) induce cytokine storm and host's intracellular redox imbalance to ensure continuous replication and survival, leading to severe immunopathology and death. The unpredictability of broad-spectrum vaccines, the emergence of drug-resistant and/or more virulent strains, the prevalence of the amantadane-resistant IAV, and the prohibitive cost of available drugs especially in resource-poor countries necessitate exploring drugs with novel action mechanisms as anti-influenza agents. This study presents the protective role of kolaviron (KV), a natural antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent from Garcinia kola seeds, on BALB/c mice challenged with influenza A/Perth/H3N2/16/09 (Pr/H3N2) virus. KV at 400 mg/kg was administered orally to groups of BALB/c mice for 3 days, 3 h, and 1 h prior to infection with 1LD50 or 3LD50 (14-day study) and 5LD50 (6-day study) Pr/H3N2. Pr/H3N2 in the lungs was detected by hemagglutination assay, while oxidative stress and inflammatory biomarkers were assayed in both lungs and liver. Infected mice treated with KV progressively increased in weight with minimal mortality. Single-dose administration of KV at 1 h or 3 h before viral challenge and 3 days pretreatment improved lung aeration and reduced lung consolidation as well as inflammatory cells infiltration in a way that had minimal impact on viral clearance, but attenuated myeloperoxidase activity and nitric oxide production via priming of reduced glutathione levels, thus enhancing the preservation of function in the lungs and liver. This study suggests that KV may be effective for delaying the development of clinical symptoms of influenza virus, and this may be through a mechanism unrelated to those deployed by the existing anti-influenza drugs but closely associated to its antioxidant and immunomodulatory properties.

Diarylheptanoids from Alpinia officinarum Cause Distinct but Overlapping Effects on the Translatome of B Lymphoblastoid Cells

Diarylheptanoids (AO-0001, AO-0002, and AO-0003) isolated from Alpinia officinarum inhibit proinflammatory mediators and exhibit cytotoxic and antiviral activity. However, the precise mechanisms of action of these diarylheptanoids are unknown as are their effects on expression of specific genes. Here, we used a translatome analysis to investigate the mechanisms and modes of action of these three diarylheptanoids. Polysome-associated messenger RNAs (mRNAs) were prepared from diarylheptanoids-treated and control cells from a human B lymphoblastoid cell line; these mRNA samples were then used for microarray analysis. Microarray Data Analysis Tool version 3.2 was used to analyze the microarray data analysis; this software uses pathway information of the WikiPathways for gene ontology analysis. Each of the diarylheptanoids caused upregulation or downregulation of the same 37 and 286 genes, respectively. Among the 37 upregulated genes, 16 were related to mRNA processing based on the WikiPathways analysis. Our findings provided new insights into the mode of action of diarylheptanoids from A. officinarum.

Alleviative Effects of a Kampo (a Japanese Herbal) Medicine "Maoto (Ma-Huang-Tang)" on the Early Phase of Influenza Virus Infection and Its Possible Mode of Action

A Kampo medicine, maoto, has been prescribed in an early phase of influenza-like illness and used for a treatment of influenza clinically in Japan these days. However, the efficacy of maoto against the virus infection remains to be elucidated. This study was conducted to evaluate the alleviative effects of maoto against early phase of influenza virus infection and its preliminary mode of actions through immune systems. When maoto (0.9 and 1.6 g/kg/day) was orally administered to A/J mice on upper respiratory tract infection of influenza virus A/PR/8/34 from 4 hours to 52 hours postinfection (p.i.) significant antipyretic effect was shown in comparison with water-treated control. Administration of maoto (0.8 and 1.3 g/kg/day) significantly decreased the virus titers in both nasal (NLF) and bronchoalveolar lavage fluids (BALF) at 52 hours p.i., and significantly increased the anti-influenza virus IgM, IgA, and IgG₁ antibody titers in NLF, BALF, and serum, respectively. Maoto also increased significantly the influenza virus-bound IgG₁ and IgM antibody titers in serum and the virus-bound IgM antibody titer in even the BALF of uninfected A/J mice. These results indicate that maoto exerts antipyretic activity in influenza virus-infected mice and virus reducing effect at an early phase of the infection through probably augmentation of the virus-bound natural antibodies.

Oral administration of patchouli alcohol isolated from Pogostemonis Herba augments protection against influenza viral infection in mice

Seasonal influenza A infection results in considerable morbidity and mortality. The limited efficacy of available therapeutic strategies stresses the need for development and study of new molecules against influenza virus (IFV). Patchouli alcohol (PA), the major chemical constituent of Pogostemonis Herba, was previously found to strongly inhibit influenza H1N1 replication in vitro. In the present study, the in vivo anti-IFV effect of PA was investigated. In a mouse model infected with lethal levels of FM1, oral administration of PA (20 mg/kg to 80 mg/kg) for 7 d post IFV infection significantly increased the survival rate and survival time. For IFV infection at nonlethal levels, the quantity of IFV in the lungs 5 d after infection was significantly reduced after PA (20 mg/kg to 80 mg/kg) administration. Anti-IFV IgA, IgM, and IgG titers in serum on day 6 were significantly higher in the PA-treated group than the IFV-control group. Anti-IFV immune response augmentation was further confirmed by the elevated production of CD3+, CD4+, and CD8+ T cell levels in blood. Furthermore, the levels of inflammatory cytokines, including TNF-alpha, IL-10 and IFN-gamma in serum of mice, were regulated. Lung inflammation was reduced significantly after PA administration, and the effect may be mediated, at least in part, by regulating the lung levels of inflammatory cytokines. Thus, oral administration of PA appears to be able to augment protection against IFV infection in mice via enhancement of host immune responses, and attenuation of systemic and pulmonary inflammatory responses.

Antiviral Activities of Diarylheptanoids Isolated from Alpinia officinarum against Respiratory Syncytial Virus, Poliovirus, Measles Virus, and Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 in vitro

Alpinia officinarum has been used as a folk medicine and contains diarylheptanoids that have various biological activities. However, their antiviral activities are less elucidated. We examined the antiviral activities of nine diarylheptanoids isolated from A. officinarum against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), poliovirus, measles virus, and herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) using a plaque reduction assay. The 50% inhibitory concentrations of seven of the nine diarylheptanoids for RSV were moderately but significantly lower than their 50% cytotoxic concentrations, as determined by a trypan blue exclusion assay. Four diarylheptanoids with anti-RSV activity also showed anti-poliovirus and anti-measles virus activities and three of the four exhibited anti-HSV-1 activity. Thus, seven of the nine diarylheptanoids examined exhibited potential antiviral activity against RSV, and most of the diarylheptanoids with anti-RSV activity, including two diarylheptanoids without anti-RSV activity, were effective against poliovirus, measles virus, and/or HSV-1 in vitro. Diarylheptanoids were suggested to have a broad spectrum of antiviral activity.

Efficacy of oral administration of heat-killed probiotics from Mongolian dairy products against influenza infection in mice: alleviation of influenza infection by its immunomodulatory activity through intestinal immunity

Some probiotics possess immunomodulatory activities and have been used as complementary and alternative medicines. We previously found that 10 lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains isolated from traditional Mongolian dairy products showed probiotic potential in vitro. In this study, we assessed the immunomodulatory activity of 10 LABs on influenza virus (IFV) infection in relation to their efficacies in IFV-infected mice. In an intranasal IFV infection model in mice, oral administration of boiled Lactobacillus plantarum 06CC2 strain (20mg/mouse), one of the 10 LABs, twice daily for 10 days starting two days before infection was significantly effective in protecting the body weight loss of infected mice, reducing virus yields in the lungs on days 2, 4, and 6 after infection, and prolonging survival times without toxicity. The total numbers of infiltrated cells in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), especially macrophages and neutrophils, were significantly reduced by 06CC2 administration on day 2. On day 2, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α production in BALF was also reduced significantly, but interferon-α, interleukin-12, and interferon-γ productions were augmented and natural killer (NK) cell activity was significantly elevated. Furthermore, the gene expressions of interleukin-12 receptor and interferon-γ in Peyer's patches were augmented by 06CC2 administration on day 2. Thus, 06CC2 was suggested to alleviate influenza symptoms in mice in correlation with the augmentation of NK cell activity associated with the enhancement of interferon-α and Th1 cytokine productions through intestinal immunity and the reduction of TNF-α in the early stage of infection.