Anti HCV activity and expression inhibition of HCC markers by protein extract from Iberis gibraltarica

Abstract

Hepatitis C virus infection (HCV) is the foremost reason of progressive hepatic fibrosis and cirrhosis, with an elevated risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development. Medicinal plants have been used for human health benefits for several years, but their therapeutic potential needs to be explored. The main objective of this study was to figure out the in vitro antiviral and anticancer characteristics of total crude protein of Iberis gibraltarica against HCV and HCC. Total crude protein of Iberis gibraltarica was isolated and quantified. The level of cytotoxicity was measured against the HepG2 cell line and it shows no significant cytotoxicity at the concentration of 504µg/ml. The anti-HCV effect was determined by absolute quantification via real time RT-PCR method and viral titer was reduced up to 66% in a dose dependent manner against the total protein of Iberis gibraltarica. The anticancer potential of Iberis gibraltarica was also examined through mRNA expression studies of AFP and GPC3 genes against the total protein of Iberis gibraltarica-treated HepG2 cells. The results show up to 90% of the down-regulation expression of AFP and GPC3. The obtained results indicate the therapeutic potential of total protein of Iberis gibraltarica against HCV and hepatocellular carcinoma in vitro.

Green Alternatives in Treatment of Liver Diseases: the Challenges of Traditional Medicine and Green Nanomedicine

“…On the other hand, the effect of the Iberis gibraltarica protein extract was analyzed on HepG2 cells infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV), obtaining that the total protein reduces the RNA of the virus by 20, 48 and 60 % when using concentrations of 30, 60 and 90 μg/mL. [25] In addition, two compounds isolated from the methanolic extract of Dracaena cinnabari were analyzed, and the results of both showed a dose-dependent decrease in the expression of the HBsAh protein of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) in HepG2.2.2.15 cells. In addition, HBV replication was decreased by 26.7 % and 38.2 % three days post-treatment.…”