Abstract
Background: The unavailability of the highly active
antiretroviral therapy (HAART) to the teeming
population (about 2.4 million out of 5 million
infected persons) living with human
immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in the
Western and Central Africa means that they have to
seek an alternative treatment option. Therefore,
traditional herbal medicine seems to be a common
option. This study was aimed at investigating the
efficacy of such a remedy by determining its anti
retroviral effect on HIV-1 using in vitro infection system.
Methods: Alpha-zam (a-zam) was examined for its
anti-HIV-1 activity and cytotoxicity in acute and
chronically infected cells. The anti-HIV-1 activity
was determined by the inhibition of virus-induced
cytopathogenicityin acutely infected MT-4/MOLT-
4 cells using the MTT assay, while this was by the
inhibition of p24 antigen production in chronically
infected OM-10.1/U1 cells using quantitative
ELISA. Also the cytotoxicity of a-zam was
determined by the MTT method.
Results: A-zam did not show anti-HIV-1 activity in
acutely infected cell culture.The cells displayed
definitive cytopathic effect and only 23.9% - 24.9%
survived at 250 to 6250 fold dilutions of the herbal
formulation. Interestingly, a-zams electively
inhibited the p24 antigen production in OM-10.1 cell
after stimulation with tumor necrosis factor alpha
(TNFα). The highest inhibition (84.6%) was achieved
at the 100-fold dilution. The results appear connected
with those in previous human study, where significant
decrease inplasma viral load was observed in patients.
Conclusion: A-zam has a potential for anti-HIV-1
activity in chronically infected cells and may be a
good candidate for treating chronic HIV-1 infections.
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