Campus Units
Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology, Food Science and Human Nutrition, Veterinary Microbiology and Preventive Medicine
Document Type
Article
Publication Version
Published Version
Publication Date
7-13-2009
Journal or Book Title
Virology Journal
Volume
6
First Page
101
DOI
10.1186/1743-422X-6-101
Abstract
Background
Light-dependent activities against enveloped viruses in St. John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum) extracts have been extensively studied. In contrast, light-independent antiviral activity from this species has not been investigated.
Results
Here, we identify the light-independent inhibition of human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) by highly purified fractions of chloroform extracts of H. perforatum. Both cytotoxicity and antiviral activity were evident in initial chloroform extracts, but bioassay-guided fractionation produced fractions that inhibited HIV-1 with little to no cytotoxicity. Separation of these two biological activities has not been reported for constituents responsible for the light-dependent antiviral activities. Antiviral activity was associated with more polar subfractions. GC/MS analysis of the two most active subfractions identified 3-hydroxy lauric acid as predominant in one fraction and 3-hydroxy myristic acid as predominant in the other. Synthetic 3-hydroxy lauric acid inhibited HIV infectivity without cytotoxicity, suggesting that this modified fatty acid is likely responsible for observed antiviral activity present in that fraction. As production of 3-hydroxy fatty acids by plants remains controversial, H. perforatum seedlings were grown sterilely and evaluated for presence of 3-hydroxy fatty acids by GC/MS. Small quantities of some 3-hydroxy fatty acids were detected in sterile plants, whereas different 3-hydroxy fatty acids were detected in our chloroform extracts or field-grown material.
Conclusion
Through bioguided fractionation, we have identified that 3-hydroxy lauric acid found in field grown Hypericum perforatum has anti-HIV activity. This novel anti-HIV activity can be potentially developed into inexpensive therapies, expanding the current arsenal of anti-retroviral agents.
Rights
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright Owner
Maury et al
Copyright Date
2009
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Maury, Wendy; Price, Jason P.; Brindley, Melinda A.; Oh, ChoonSeok; Neighbors, Jeffrey D.; Wiemer, David F.; Wills, Nickolas; Carpenter, Susan L.; Hauck, Catherine C.; Murphy, Patricia A.; Widrlechner, Mark P.; Delate, Kathleen; Kumar, Ganesh; Kraus, George A.; Rizshsky, Ludmila; and Nikolau, Basil J., "Identification of light-independent inhibition of human immunodeficiency virus-1 infection through bioguided fractionation of Hypericum perforatum" (2009). NCRPIS Publications and Papers. 25.
https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/ncrpis_pubs/25
Included in
Agriculture Commons, Biochemistry Commons, Chemistry Commons, Horticulture Commons, Human and Clinical Nutrition Commons, Molecular Biology Commons, Virology Commons
Comments
This article is from Virology Journal 6 (2009): 101, doi:10.1186/1743-422X-6-101. Posted with permission.