Antiviral activity of Ribes uva-crispa L. extracts in vitro

Abstract

There is currently no approved vaccine or a useful antiviral drug against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) that causes viral infection worldwide. Crude plant extracts can be an important resource for the development of new antiRSV agents. In this study, cytotoxic and anti-RSV effect of the extracts Ribes uva-crispa, which has been known as "gooseberry" in Turkey and fruits used in the treatment of the various disorders, were evaluated by colorimetric XTT method. Results were expressed as 50% cytotoxicity (CC50), 50% effective concentration (EC50) and selectivity index (SI: CC50 / EC50). Of the tested extracts, the highest antiviral activity was found to be 96.90μg/mL EC50 and 11.70 SI from fruit aqueous extract; it was followed by leaf methanol extract (EC50: 2527.41μg/mL, SI: 6.55), leaf aqueous extract (EC50: 1093.37µg/mL, SI: 1.40) and fruit methanol extract (EC50: 11262.35µg/mL, SI: 0.56), respectively. As a result, we can say that these extracts, especially Ribes uva-crispa fruit aqueous and leaf methanol extracts, are worthy of further studies for the development of new and unique anti-RSV drugs.