Sepehr Soleymani
Pasteur Institute of Iran, Iran
Title: Crocin, a carotenoid pigment of saffron inhibits the replication of HSV and HIV in vitro
Biography
Biography: Sepehr Soleymani
Abstract
Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) belonging to the retrovirus family is the major agent of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome as a public health problem in the world. There are more than 253 types of approved anti-HIV drugs, but further development of novel anti-HIV agents would be needed especially in low-income countries without anti-retroviral treatment. Some limitations of the recent viral therapies include high risk of resistant viruses, and adverse side effects in long-term therapy. Therefore, it is necessary for improvement of novel potent and safe anti-HIV drugs with decreased side effects especially tolerability and toxicity. Furthermore, other problem in treatment of HIV-infected patients is their susceptibility to Herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection; thus, both anti-HSV and anti-HIV drugs with novel modes of action are required. Recently, saffron components have been proposed to treat various pathological conditions. In this study, crocin, a major carotenoid of saffron, was extracted from the ethanolic saffron extract by adsorption chromatography using neutral aluminum oxide 90 active. Then, the anti-HSV-1 and anti-HIV-1 activities of crocin were assessed as well as its cytotoxicity in vitro. The data indicated that crocin was active against HIV-1 and HSV-1 virions at certain doses. Crocin inhibited the HSV replication at before and after entry of virions into Vero cells. Indeed, crocin carotenoid suppressed HSV penetration in the target cells as well as disturbed virus replication after entry to the cells. This sugar-containing compound extracted from saffron showed to be an effective anti-herpetic drug candidate. In general, crocin would be a promising anti-HSV and anti-HIV agent for herbal therapy against viral infections.