Antiviral Effects of Novel Herbal Medicine KIOM-C, on Diverse Viruses

• Published in: PloS one 2015-05, Vol.10 (5), p.e0125357-e0125357
• Main Authors: Talactac, Melbourne R, Chowdhury, Mohammed Y E, Park, Min-Eun, Weeratunga, Prasanna, Kim, Tae-Hwan, Cho, Won-Kyung, Kim, Chul-Joong, Ma, Jin Yeul, Lee, Jong-Soo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Antiviral activity; Antiviral agents; Antiviral Agents - administration & dosage; Antiviral Agents - pharmacology; Antiviral drugs; Antiviral state; Aquatic birds; Avian influenza; Avian influenza viruses; Biological response modifiers; Cell Line; Cells, Cultured; Cytokines; Cytokines - biosynthesis; Disease Models, Animal; Female; Health aspects; Herbal Medicine; In vivo methods and tests; Infection; Infections; Inflammation; Inflammation Mediators - metabolism; Influenza; Interferon; Interferon Type I - metabolism; Lung - pathology; Lung - virology; Lungs; Macrophages; Medicine; Mice; Newcastle disease; Orthomyxoviridae Infections - drug therapy; Orthomyxoviridae Infections - mortality; Orthomyxoviridae Infections - virology; Pandemics; Phosphorylation; Plant Extracts - administration & dosage; Plant Extracts - pharmacology; Signal Transduction - drug effects; Stomatitis; Survivability; Veterinary colleges; Viral infections; Virus Replication - drug effects; Viruses; Viruses - drug effects
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0125357

In order to identify new potential antiviral agents, recent studies have advocated thorough testing of herbal medicines or natural substances that are traditionally used to prevent viral infections. Antiviral activities and the mechanism of action of the total aqueous extract preparation of KIOM-C, a novel herbal medicine, against diverse types of viruses were investigated. In vitro antiviral activity against A/Puerto Rico/8/34 (H1N1) (PR8), vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), and Newcastle disease virus (NDV) through the induction of type-I interferon related protein phosphorylation and up-regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines in murine macrophage cells (RAW264.7) were determined. In vivo, KIOM-C-treated BALB/c mice showed higher survivability and lower lung viral titers when challenged with A/Aquatic bird/Korea/W81/2005 (H5N2), A/PR/8/34(H1N1), A/Aquatic bird/Korea/W44/2005(H7N3) or A/Chicken/Korea/116 /2004(H9N2) influenza subtypes in contrast with the non-treated group. The present study revealed that total aqueous extract preparation of KIOM-C stimulates an antiviral state in murine macrophage cells and in mice leading to inhibition of viral infection and protection against lethal challenges.