IN-VITRO ANTIVIRAL ACTIVITY OF TIRYAQE WABAI AGAINST HERPES SIMPLEX VIRUS-1

Background: Herpes simplex virus (HSV) are one of the most important viruses that causes a variety of life-threatening diseases in humans and the chemotherapeutic agents available for HSV infections are limited in efficiency. The formulation from Unani system of medicine was taken for antiviral assay which has already been established as anti-oxidants, immuno-modulator, anti-inflammatory activity in order to not only to reduce the viral-infection but also to maintain the homeostasis. Objective: Tiryaqwabai (TW) is a formulation in Unani system of medicine which was used by traditional healers and scholars like Avicenna and Galen in healthy and in sick people for its prevention and therapeutic effects during epidemics like cholera, plague and other diseases. Antiviral activity of the three components have been established in-vitro against HSV-1. The study was done to evaluate the synergistic effect of the formulation for HSV-1. Methods: TW was screened for its cytotoxicity against Vero cell line by microculture tetrazolium (MTT) assay. Antiviral properties of Tiryaqwabai (TW) were determined by cytopathic effect inhibition (CPE) assay and Virucidal assay (virus yield reduction assay.) some more detail is needed here. Data Analysis: In the in-vitro assays, the number of plaques formed in infected cells was used to calculate the percentage inhibition of plaques and the graphical determination of EC₅₀. In the cytotoxicity experiments, the number of viable cells was used to calculate the percentage toxicity at each tested concentration, which was then used for the graphical determination of the CC50. Results: TW powder was found to be non-toxic below 2000mcg/ml and the CPE inhibition assay at 1000mcg/ml and 500mcg/ml have shown 75 +4.45 % and 30.73+2.72% protection against HSV-1 virus challenge dose 10TCID50. In the virucidal assay TW has shown antiviral activity on HSV-1 titration as 99%. Conclusion: Tiryaqwabai includes all three components that provide a suitable basis for the preventive application of various pharmacological measures, such as immunomodulatory, atithusic, sputum and antivirals, in infectious conditions. Further investigations utilising more sophisticated techniques are necessary to get potential anti-HSV medicines from the bioactive components extracted from the plants.