Efficacy of geraniin on dengue virus type-2 infected BALB/c mice

Abstract

Background Dengue continues to be a major international public health concern. Despite that, there is no clinically approved antiviral for treatment of dengue virus (DENV) infections. In this study, geraniin extracted from the rind of Nephelium lappaceum was shown to inhibit the replication of DENV-2 in both in vitro and in vivo experiments. Methods The effect of geraniin on DENV-2 RNA synthesis in infected Vero cells was tested using quantitative RT-PCR. The in vivo efficacy of geraniin in inhibiting DENV-2 infection was then tested using BALB/c mice with geraniin administered at three different times. The differences in spleen to body weight ratio, DENV-2 RNA load and liver damage between the three treatment groups as compared to DENV-2 infected mice without geraniin administration were determined on day eight post-infection. Results Quantitative RT-PCR confirmed the decrease in viral RNA synthesis of infected Vero cells when treated with geraniin. Geraniin seemed to provide a protective effect on infected BALB/c mice liver when given at 24 h pre- and 24 h post-infection as liver damage was observed to be very mild even though a significant reduction of DENV-2 RNA load in serum was not observed in these two treatment groups. However, when administered at 72 h post-infection, severe liver damage in the form of necrosis and haemorrhage had prevailed despite a substantial reduction of DENV-2 RNA load in serum. Conclusions Geraniin was found to be effective in reducing DENV-2 RNA load when administered at 72 h post-infection while earlier administration could prevent severe liver damage caused by DENV-2 infection. These results provide evidence that geraniin is a potential candidate for the development of anti-dengue drug.

Crocetin Improves Dengue Virus-Induced Liver Injury

“…In immunocompetent mice (Male BALB/c mice of age 8 weeks), DENV-associated clinical symptoms were observed [32,33]. These clinical responses were consistently observed in our experimental model in mice, and crocetin treatment at a dosage of 50 mg/kg of mice improved leucopenia, thrombocytopenia and liver transaminases in DENV-infected mice.…”

“…DENV-associated clinical indications, including leucopenia and thrombocytopenia, were explained by the previous finding that liver injury was linked with elevated transaminases [ 30 , 31 ]. In immunocompetent mice (Male BALB/c mice of age 8 weeks), DENV-associated clinical symptoms were observed [ 32 , 33 ]. These clinical responses were consistently observed in our experimental model in mice, and crocetin treatment at a dosage of 50 mg/kg of mice improved leucopenia, thrombocytopenia and liver transaminases in DENV-infected mice.…”

Application of One-Step Reverse Transcription Droplet Digital PCR for Dengue Virus Detection and Quantification in Clinical Specimens

“…Thus, RT-PCR is usually used for validating novel DENV diagnostic tests including RDTs [ 7 ]. The assay also is used to quantify DENV RNA in laboratory and clinical samples to assess virus burden [ 8 ] and to determine the efficacy of vaccines [ 9 ] and anti-DENV drugs [ 8 ].…”

Antiviral Role of Phenolic Compounds against Dengue Virus: A Review

“…The study demonstrated that polyphenol geraniin reduced viremia when administered to mice 72 h after infection (hpi) at a concentration of 131.30 μM prepared in 100 μL PBS. Additionally, histopathology showed that treatment with geraniin 24 h prior to infection could prevent severe liver damage caused by DENV-2 [ 47 ].…”