Plant Compound More Powerful Than AZT Against HIV

저자：   업로드：2017-06-20  조회수：

    There is a philosophy that ascribes to the notion that for every disease humans have encountered, nature has already devised a cure—we need only find it. A group of scientists from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), Hong Kong Baptist University, and the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, working together as an International Cooperative Biodiversity Group (ICBG), may have just taken a step closer to proving the philosophy true.

    The research team has just published data describing that a plant found throughout Southeast Asia traditionally used to treat arthritis and rheumatism contains a potent anti-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) compound more powerful than the drug azidothymidine (AZT).

    Findings from the new study were published recently in the Journal of Natural Products in an article entitled “Potent Inhibitor of Drug-Resistant HIV-1 Strains Identified from the Medicinal Plant Justicia gendarussa.”

   

    The inhibitory compound, called patentiflorin A, was derived from the willow-leaved Justicia plant and was identified by screening of more than 4,500 plant extracts for their effect against the HIV virus. The ICBG team discovered the molecule in their search or natural products that may have applications in health and medicine, and also work to support sustainable use of these resources in low-income countries.

    “Justicia gendarussa, a medicinal plant collected in Vietnam, was identified as a potent anti-HIV-1 active lead from the evaluation of over 4500 plant extracts,” the authors wrote. “Bioassay-guided separation of the extracts of the stems and roots of this plant led to the isolation of an anti-HIV arylnaphthalene lignan (ANL) glycoside, patentiflorin A. Evaluation of the compound against both the M- and T-tropic HIV-1 isolates showed it to possess a significantly higher inhibition effect than the clinically used anti-HIV drug AZT."

    The extract had been taken from the leaves, stems, and roots of the Justicia plant that was collected in Cuc Phuong National Park in Hanoi. The ICBG team analyzed the extract, along with thousands of others,

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