The Geraniin-Rich Extract from Reunion Island Endemic Medicinal Plant Phyllanthus phillyreifolius Inhibits Zika and Dengue Virus Infection at Non-Toxic Effect Doses in Zebrafish

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 25; no. 10; p. 2316
• Main Authors: Haddad, Juliano G, Grauzdytė, Dovilė, Koishi, Andrea Cristine, Viranaicken, Wildriss, Venskutonis, Petras Rimantas, Nunes Duarte Dos Santos, Claudia, Desprès, Philippe, Diotel, Nicolas, El Kalamouni, Chaker
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 15.05.2020; MDPI
• Subjects: A549 Cells; Animals; antiviral activity; Antiviral Agents - isolation & purification; Antiviral Agents - pharmacology; Bioactive compounds; Biocompatibility; Cell Line, Tumor; Chemical Sciences; Chlorocebus aethiops; Cytotoxicity; Danio rerio; Dengue fever; dengue virus; Dengue Virus - drug effects; Dengue Virus - growth & development; Disease; Endemic plants; Epidemics; geraniin; Glucosides - isolation & purification; Glucosides - pharmacology; Hepatocytes - drug effects; Hepatocytes - virology; Herbal medicine; Humans; Hydrolyzable Tannins - isolation & purification; Hydrolyzable Tannins - pharmacology; Incubation; Infections; Infectivity; Inoculation; Internalization; Life Sciences; Locomotor activity; Medicinal Chemistry; Medicinal plants; Metabolites; Microbiology and Parasitology; Morbidity; Mosquitoes; Phyllanthus; Phyllanthus - chemistry; Phyllanthus phillyreifolius; Phytochemicals; Phytochemicals - isolation & purification; Phytochemicals - pharmacology; Plant Extracts - chemistry; Plants, Medicinal; Polyphenols; Progeny; Proteins; Public health; Reunion; Serotypes; Vector-borne diseases; Vero Cells; Viral infections; Virology; Virus Internalization - drug effects; Viruses; Zebrafish; Zika virus; Zika Virus - drug effects; Zika Virus - growth & development; Reunion; Phyllanthus phillyreifolius; zika virus; dengue virus; antiviral activity; zebrafish; geraniin; medicinal plants
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules25102316

The mosquito-borne viruses dengue (DENV) and Zika (ZIKV) viruses are two medically important pathogens in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. There is an urgent need of therapeutics against DENV and ZIKV, and medicinal plants are considered as a promising source of antiviral bioactive metabolites. In the present study, we evaluated the ability of , an endemic medicinal plant from Reunion Island, to prevent DENV and ZIKV infection in human cells. At non-cytotoxic concentration , incubation of infected A549 cells with a extract or its major active phytochemical geraniin resulted in a dramatic reduction of virus progeny production for ZIKV as well as four serotypes of DENV. Virological assays showed that extract-mediated virus inhibition relates to a blockade in internalization of virus particles into the host cell. Infectivity studies on ZIKV showed that both and geraniin cause a loss of infectivity of the viral particles. Using a zebrafish model, we demonstrated that administration of and geraniin has no effect on zebrafish locomotor activity while no morbidity nor mortality was observed up to 5 days post-inoculation. Thus, could act as an important source of plant metabolite geraniin which is a promising antiviral compound in the fight against DENV and ZIKV.