In vitro inhibition of the bovine viral diarrhoea virus by the essential oil of Ocimum basilicum (basil) and monoterpenes

Abstract

The bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) is suggested as a model for antiviral studies of the hepatitis C virus (HCV). The antiviral activity of the essential oil of Ocimum basilicum and the monoterpenes camphor, thymol and 1,8-cineole against BVDV was investigated. The cytotoxicities of the compounds were measured by the MTT (3-(4.5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2.5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) test, and the antiviral activities were tested by the plaque reduction assay. The oil or compounds were added to the assay in three different time points: a) pre-treatment of the virus (virucidal assay); b) pre-treatment of the cells; or c) post-treatment of the cells (after virus inoculation). The percentage of plaques inhibition for each compound was determined based on the number of plaques in the viral control. The results were expressed by CC50 (50% cytotoxic concentration), IC50 (inhibitory concentration for 50% of plaques) and SI (selectivity index = CC50/IC50). Camphor (CC50 = 4420.12 μg mL−1) and 1,8-cineole (CC50 = 2996.10 μg mL−1) showed the lowest cytotoxicities and the best antiviral activities (camphor SI = 13.88 and 1,8-cineol SI = 9.05) in the virucidal assay. The higher activities achieved by the monoterpenes in the virucidal assay suggest that these compounds act directly on the viral particle.

Identification of existing pharmaceuticals and herbal medicines as inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 infection

“…S2 ), and whether they are related to the antiviral activity remains to be investigated. It was reported that monoterpenes (1, 8-cineole and camphor from basil leaves) ( 49 ), diterpenes [carnosic acid ( 50 ) and patchouli alcohol ( 51 ) from rosemary, and patchouli], and triterpenes (ursolic acid from prunella spike and basil) were able to block virus entry and replication. However, the exact mechanisms of these Chinese herbal medicines to inhibit the infection of SARS-CoV-2 are still unknown, and synergistic effects of multiple active components may exist ( 52 ).…”

Herbal immune-boosters: Substantial warriors of pandemic Covid-19 battle

“…Similar extract has been employed in treatment of foot and mouth disease virus. Moreover, their exist a wide array of reports suggesting utilization of herbal extracts in TCM such as extracts prepared from Azadirachta indica ( Kumar and Navaratnam, 2013 ; Gupta et al, 2017 ), Camellia sinensis ( Song et al, 2005 ; Kuzuhara et al, 2009 ; Li et al, 2015 ), Ocimum sanctum and Agremone mexicana ( Varshney et al, 2013 ), Zingiber officinale ( Shah and Krishnamurthy, 2013 ), Tinospora cordifolia ( Shah and Krishnamurthy, 2013 ), Alium sativum ( Kim et al, 2005 ; Wang et al, 2006 ) and Ocimum basilicum ( Kubiça et al, 2014 ) etc. for their antimicrobial potential.…”

Therapeutic effectiveness of Ocimum basilicum extract on bovine cutaneous papillomatosis

“…The different components of OB are used as remedies for treating disorders such as viral ophthalmic, respiratory, and hepatic infections (Chiang et al, 2005;Yacout et al, 2012;Eftekhar et al, 2019). Ethanolic extract of Ocimum basilicum yielded apigenin, linalool, and ursolic acid exhibiting a broad spectrum of antiviral activities (Chiang et al, 2005) also camphor and 1,8-cineole against bovine viral disease virus BVDV (Kubiça et al, 2014).…”