Virucidal and antiviral activities of pomegranate (Punica granatum) extract against the mosquito-borne Mayaro virus

Parasites & Vectors

José A. Ventura¹  Thayane Encarnação Sá-Guimarães²  Márcia Regina Soares²  Marcelo Damião Ferreira Meneses³  Renata Campos Azevedo³  Tiago Souza Salles⁴  Davis Fernandes Ferreira⁵  Lucio Ayres Caldas⁶  Danielle M. de Oliveira⁷  Ricardo M. Kuster⁸ 

[1]Capixaba Institute of Research, Technical Assistance and Rural Extension, Vitoria, Espirito Santo, Brazil

[2]Institute of Chemistry, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

[3]Institute of Microbiology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

[4]Institute of Microbiology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

[5]Institute of Chemistry, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

[6]Institute of Microbiology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

[7]National Institute of Science and Technology for Structural Biology and Bioimaging, INBEB, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

[8]Department of Molecular and Structural Biochemistry, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA

[9]National Institute of Science and Technology for Structural Biology and Bioimaging, INBEB, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

[10]Laboratory of Cellular Ultrastructure Hertha Meyer, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

[11]Natural Products Research Institute, IPPN, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

[12]Natural Products Research Institute, IPPN, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

[13]Chemistry Department, Federal University of Espírito Santo, Vitoria, Espirito Santo, Brazil

关键词: Punicalagin;    Biflavonoids;    Alphavirus;    Mayaro virus;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s13071-021-04955-4

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe arthropod-borne Mayaro virus (MAYV) causes “Mayaro fever,” a disease of medical significance, primarily affecting individuals in permanent contact with forested areas in tropical South America. Recently, MAYV has attracted attention due to its likely urbanization. There are currently no licensed drugs against most mosquito-transmitted viruses. Punica granatum (pomegranate) fruits cultivated in Brazil have been subjected to phytochemical investigation for the identification and isolation of antiviral compounds. In the present study, we explored the antiviral activity of pomegranate extracts in Vero cells infected with Mayaro virus.MethodsThe ethanol extract and punicalagin of pomegranate were extracted solely from the shell and purified by chromatographic fractionation, and were chemically identified using spectroscopic techniques. The cytotoxicity of the purified compounds was measured by the dye uptake assay, while their antiviral activity was evaluated by a virus yield inhibition assay.ResultsPomegranate ethanol extract (CC50 = 588.9, IC50 = 12.3) and a fraction containing punicalagin as major compound (CC50 = 441.5, IC50 = 28.2) were shown to have antiviral activity (SI 49 and 16, respectively) against Mayaro virus, an alphavirus. Immunofluorescence analysis showed the virucidal effect of pomegranate extract, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed damage in viral particles treated with this extract.ConclusionsThe P. granatum extract is a promising source of antiviral compounds against the alphavirus MAYV and represents an excellent candidate for future studies with other enveloped RNA viruses.Graphical abstract

【 授权许可】

CC BY