Inhibitory Effect of a Standard Extract of Zhumeria majdae Rech.f. and Wendelbo. against Herpes simplex-1 Virus

Rosmarinic Acid (RA) is an interesting phenolic acid with a variety of biological activities such as antioxidant, anti inflammatory and anti viral effects. In the present study, we aimed to study the inhibitory effect of methanolic extract of Zhumeria majdae against Herpes simplex type 1 (HSV-1). This extract has been standardized on the basis of RA content. Aerial parts of Zhumeria majdae was extracted with methanol 80% by maceration method. Calibration curve of RA was prepared and content of plant extract was measured on the basis of this curve by spectrophotometry method. Neutral red method was used for determining of maximum non toxic concentration (MNTC) of the plant extract. A serial dilution of plant extract up to MNTC were examined in vitro on vero cells for their anti HSV-1effect using a plaque reduction assay. Acyclovir was used as positive control. For studying of time-dependent antiviral effect of Z. majdae, plant extract was added to HSV-1 infected vero cells at different stages of infection. The percentage of RA was determined as 1.3% in Z. majdae. This plant could inhibit plaque formation at a period of 3 h after cell infection at all used concentrations (5, 10, 20 and 50 μg mL-1). This extract revealed both a time and concentration inhibition against HSV-1. Considering the antiviral effect of Z. majdae against HSV-1, can conclude that this plant is a good candidate for further studies and rosmarinic acid would be an important factor for this activity.