Screening of anti-HIV activities in ethanol extract and fractions from Ficus fistulosa leaves

Abstract

Abstract Objectives Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is considered as a major immunosuppressive disease linked to malignancies and other opportunistic infections. Recently, the high prevalence of HIV drug-resistant strains required a high demand for novel antiviral drug development, especially in herbal medicine approaches. The objective of this study was to evaluate the possibility of Ficus fistulosa leaves can inhibit HIV replication in ethanol extract form as well as its fractions using chloroform, ethyl acetate, and butanol solvents. Methods F. fistulosa leaves were extracted using ethanol as a solvent and further gradually fractionated in chloroform, ethyl acetate, and butanol solvents. The targeted persistently infected virus (MT4/HIV) cell lines were cocultured with ethanol extract and fractions at different time points. The syncytium formation and cytotoxicity assays were performed to evaluate the potential antiviral activity of F. fistulosa leaves. Results One of the four tested extract/fractions showed antiviral activity against HIV. The ethanol extract showed weak inhibition with a high level of toxicity (IC50 = 8.96 μg/mL, CC50 ≥50 μg/mL, and SI = 5.58). Meanwhile, chloroform fraction effectively inhibited the MT4/HIV cell proliferation while keeping the toxicity to a minimal level (IC50 = 3.27 μg/mL, CC50 = 29.30 μg/mL, and SI = 8.96). In contrast of ethyl acetate fraction and butanol fraction showed no anti HIV activity with a high level of toxicity (CC50 ≥50 μg/mL) and low SI value (>2.17 μg/mL and >0.97 μg/mL). Conclusions Chloroform fraction of F. fistulosa leaves showed effectively as anti-viral activity against MT4/HIV cells.