2. Academic Validation
  3. Anti-HIV Activity of Ocimum labiatum Extract and Isolated Pheophytin-a

Anti-HIV Activity of Ocimum labiatum Extract and Isolated Pheophytin-a

  • Molecules. 2017 Nov 6;22(11):1763. doi: 10.3390/molecules22111763.
Petrina Kapewangolo 1 2,  Martha Kandawa-Schulz 3,  Debra Meyer 4 5
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa. pkapewangolo@unam.na.
  • 2 Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Namibia, P/Bag 13301, Windhoek 9000, Namibia. pkapewangolo@unam.na.
  • 3 Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Namibia, P/Bag 13301, Windhoek 9000, Namibia. kschulz@unam.na.
  • 4 Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa. dmeyer@uj.ac.za.
  • 5 Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, Johannesburg 2006, South Africa. dmeyer@uj.ac.za.
PMID: 29113139 DOI: 10.3390/molecules22111763
Abstract

Ocimum Plants are traditionally used to manage HIV/AIDS in various African countries. The effects of Ocimum labiatum extract on HIV-1 protease (PR) and Reverse Transcriptase (RT) is presented here along with characterization of an identified bioactive compound, achieved through ¹H- and 13C-NMR. The extract's effect on HIV-1 replication was assessed by HIV-1 p24 antigen capture. Cytotoxicity of samples was evaluated using tetrazolium dyes and real-time cell electronic sensing (RT-CES). Ocimum labiatum inhibited HIV-1 PR with an IC50 value of 49.8 ± 0.4 μg/mL and presented weak inhibition (21%) against HIV-1 RT. The extract also reduced HIV-1 replication in U1 cells at a non-cytotoxic concentration (25 μg/mL). The CC50 value of the extract in U1 cells was 42.0 ± 0.13 μg/mL. The HIV-1 PR inhibiting fraction was purified using prep-HPLC and yielded a chlorophyll derivative, pheophytin-a (phy-a). Phy-a inhibited HIV-1 PR with an IC50 value of 44.4 ± 1.5 μg/mL (51 ± 1.7 μM). The low cytotoxicity of phy-a in TZM-bl cells was detected by RT-CES and the CC50 value in U1 cells was 51.3 ± 1.0 μg/mL (58.9 ± 1.2 μM). This study provides the first in vitro evidence of anti-HIV activity of O. labiatum and isolated phy-a, supporting further investigation of O. labiatum for lead compounds against HIV-1.

Keywords

HIV-1 protease; HIV-1 replication; HIV-1 reverse transcriptase; Ocimum labiatum; pheophytin-a; real-time cell electronic sensing.

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