Antiviral Effect of fifty Different Species of Salvia against Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 in vitro

Background and Objectives: Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) causes significant human diseases ranging from skin lesions to encephalitis, especially in neonates and immunocompromised hosts. In this context, natural products could be rich sources of antiviral molecules due to their large structural diversity and complexity. Indeed, plant extracts have been recently reported to inhibit HSV-1 infection. Salvia is an herbaceous perennial shrub belonging to Lamiaceae family. It is widelycultivated because of its essential oil (EO). Nowadays, it is widely cultivated for the pleasant smell of its essential oil (EO), whose antimicrobial and antifungal activities have already been screened.The aim of study was to test 50 different the Salvia speciesfor their antiviral activity against HSV- 1, to investigate their probable mode of action antiviral activity.Materials and Methods: A549 was obtained from Pasteur Institute of Iran and Salvia extracts were obtained from the Medicinal & Natural Products Chemistry Research Center (MNCRC).Antiviral properties of Salvia extracts on HSV-1 were evaluated by titration based on the modified TCID50 method so that compounds with greater than 80 % inhibition, compared with control were selected as primary hit. Primary hits were evaluated in detail by plaque reduction assay for confirmation. Results: Fifty different Species of Salviawere screened for anti-HSV activity in three doses of 5,10, 25μM/ml using a cell-based CPE assay in a 96-well plateformat. Five extracts including S. Shariffi, S. Santoliniflolia, S. Eremophylla, S. Multicaulis, S. Santoliniflolia inhibited the HSV-1 induced CPE in a dose response manner without significant cytotoxicity.Also, five selective extracts had inhibitory effects on HSV-DNA synthesis in comparison to controls and ACV-treated controls in 5μM/ml. Conclusion: In an effort to identify new Salvia extractsas inhibitors of HSV-1, we initiated a screen 50 of the Salvia species extracts. These results indicated that five selective extracts can be of interest to the development of new and alternative anti-HSV-1 products active also against acyclovir-resistant HSV-1 strains.