In vitro activity of three selected South African medicinal plants against human immunodeficiency virus type 1 reverse transcriptase

Pascal Obong Bessong*, Chikwelu Larry Obi, Eunice Igumbor, Marie Line Andreola, Simon Litvak

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

36 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Crude extracts of three ethnobotanically selected medicinal plants were screened for activity against two functions of human immunodeficiency type 1 reverse transcriptase. Inhibition of the RNA-dependent DNA polymerase activity was evaluated by measuring the degree of incorporation of methyl-3H thymidine triphosphate using polyadenylic acid.oligodeoxythymidylic acid as a template primer. Ribonuclease H activity was evaluated by measuring the extent of degradation of a radiolabelled RNA in an RNA/DNA hybrid by reverse transcriptase in the presence of test substance. The methanol extract of the leaves of Terminalia sericea (Combretaceae) was found to strongly inhibit the polymerase (IC50 = 7.2 μg/ml) and the ribonuclease H (IC50 = 8.1 μg/ml) activities. Isolation and characterization of a possible active molecule is warranted.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)555-559
Number of pages5
JournalAfrican Journal of Biotechnology
Volume3
Issue number10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2004
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Crude extracts
  • HIV-1 reverse transcriptase
  • Inhibition
  • Medicinal plants
  • South Africa
  • Terminalia sericea

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