Skip to main content

In vitro antiviral activity of peptide-rich extracts from seven Nigerian plants against three non-polio enterovirus species C serotypes

Abstract

Background

As frequent viral outbreaks continue to pose threat to public health, the unavailability of antiviral drugs and challenges associated with vaccine development underscore the need for antiviral drugs discovery in emergent moments (endemic or pandemic). Plants in response to microbial and pest attacks are able to produce defence molecules such as antimicrobial peptides as components of their innate immunity, which can be explored for viral therapeutics.

Methods

In this study, partially purified peptide-rich fraction (P-PPf) were obtained from aqueous extracts of seven plants by reverse-phase solid-phase extraction and cysteine-rich peptides detected by a modified TLC method. The peptide-enriched fractions and the aqueous (crude polar) were screened for antiviral effect against three non-polio enterovirus species C members using cytopathic effect reduction assay.

Results

In this study, peptide fraction obtained from Euphorbia hirta leaf showed most potent antiviral effect against Coxsackievirus A13, Coxsackievirus A20, and Enterovirus C99 (EV-C99) with IC50 < 2.0 µg/mL and selective index ≥ 81. EV-C99 was susceptible to all partially purified peptide fractions except Allamanda blanchetii leaf.

Conclusion

These findings establish the antiviral potentials of plants antimicrobial peptides and provides evidence for the anti-infective use of E. hirta in ethnomedicine. This study provides basis for further scientific investigation geared towards the isolation, characterization and mechanistic pharmacological study of the detected cysteine-rich peptides.

Background

The menace caused by viral infections to the health of the public cannot be overstated. Particularly, the frequent outbreaks of newly emerging and re-emerging viruses (from endemic to pandemic situations) coupled with the lack of or limited availability of antiviral drugs and vaccines against them, poses a threat to human survival socio-economically, as evident in the current COVID-19 pandemic [29, 39]. More so, for some viral infections, there is fast development of drug-resistant viral strains due mutation especially, RNA viruses (lacking proof-read mechanisms), and limitation of vaccine use in immunocompromised individuals [28].These have highlighted the need for antiviral drug discovery.

Enteroviruses are non-enveloped icosahedra virion with single-stranded positive sense RNA genome of 7.5 kb size. They belong to 13 species of genus Enterovirus in the picornaviridae family, four (EV-A to D) of which have been found to constantly infect humans [9]. Clinical manifestations include aseptic meningitis, neonatal sepsis, myocarditis, type 1 diabetes, hand-foot-and-mouth disease, and acute flaccid paralysis. Poliovirus, the aetiological agent of poliomyelitis is a typical member of enterovirus species C alongside Coxsackievirus A13 (CV-A13), CV-A20, Enterovirus C99 (EV-C99) and others [7, 20].

In Nigeria, circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPVs) have been implicated to result from recombination of non-polio enterovirus species C (NPESC) members particularly CV-A13, CV-A20, CV-A11, and CV-A17 with oral polio vaccine (OPV) [1]. The International Health Regulations (IHR) classified Nigeria as a state infected with cVDPVs with potential risk of international spread [12]. Yet, there is currently no available antiviral drugs approved for enterovirus infections.

Peptides, for therapeutic considerations have been faced with concern and limitations such as poor pharmacokinetic properties, and high molecular weight (immunogenicity) [17, 23, 24, 31, 45]. Some techniques such as cyclization, incorporation of unnatural amino acids, recombinant techniques have been employed to enhance properties of target peptides [17]. Diverse peptides are produced by plants for various metabolic purposes including defence against attacks from microbes, herbivores and pests [8]. As plants continue to be a veritable source for drug discovery, the presence of cysteine-rich peptides including the circular variants in plants and particularly, cysteine-rich circular peptides known as cyclotides, brightens the future of peptide drug discovery. Of the five structural groups of antimicrobial plant peptides [18], cyclotides are found to be ultra-stable, being able to withstand extreme conditions of temperature, chemical, and enzymatic treatment [2, 16].

Viral therapeutic peptides are emerging [11], yet plant-derived peptides have not been explored for antiviral activity. Herein, we evaluated the antiviral effect of partially-purified peptide fraction (P-PPf) from seven medicinal plants belonging to Rubiaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Phyllantaceae, and Apocynaceae families against 3 members of NPESC.

Methods

Plants material collection, authentication and peptide extraction

Leaf part of 3 plants from Euphorbiaceae, 1 from Rubiaceae, 1 from Phyllantaceae and 2 from Apocynaceae were collected from the Botanical Garden of [BLINDED FOR PEER REVIEW], identified and authenticated at Forestry Herbarium Ibadan (FHI). Leaves were air-dried, pulverized and subjected to aqueous and then solid-phase extractions. Extraction method was employed in view of cyclotides, using previously described procedures [8, 14,15,16]. Briefly, plants leaves were subjected to aqueous extraction by maceration in dichloromethane/methanol (1:1; v/v) for 24 h at 25 °C with continuous agitation. After 24 h, water was added to obtain aqueous-rich fraction. The concentrated aqueous-rich fraction was further subjected to reverse-phase solid-phase extraction (RP-SPE) using C18 columns (Phenomenex, Aschaffenburg, Germany) and eluted with solvent B (90% (v/v) acetonitrile, 0.045% (v/v) trifluoroacetic acid in double distilled water). Hydrophilic compounds were separated from partially purified peptide fraction (P-PPf) by eluting with 20% and 80% solvent B, respectively. The P-PPfs were freeze-dried and stored in the refrigerator at 4 °C until used for bioassay.

Thin layer chromatography (TLC) chemical detection of peptides

A modified method previously described by WenYan et al. [48] and Attah et al. [2] was adopted for the TLC chemical detection. Pre-coated TLC plates (G254 MERCK, Germany) and solvent system n-butanol:acetic acid:water (3:1:1) were used. Each solvent-dissolved peptide extract was spotted on the TLC plate and developed in the solvent system above. Plates were allowed to dry, viewed under UV at 254 and 365 nm. Dried plates (TLC chromatograms) were swiftly sprayed or dipped in freshly prepared G-250 modified stain or ninhydrin, respectively.

Preparation of extract stock

For antiviral screening, 20 mg of fractions (crude and peptide-rich) was each dissolved in 2 mL dimethylsulfxoide (DMSO) to obtain stock solutions (10 mg/mL).

Cell and virus

Human breast adenocarcinoma cancer cell line (MCF-7) obtained from WHO national Polio Lab, Ibadan, Nigeria was used for both cytotoxic and antiviral studies. Cells were grown in Eagle’s minimum essential medium (MEM) supplemented with 10% foetal bovine serum (FBS), 100 units/mL of penicillin, 100 μg/mL of streptomycin, 2 mM L-glutamine, 0.07% NaHCO3, 1% non-essential amino acids and vitamin solution at 37 °C in a humidify incubator (85–95% humidity). Three species C enterovirus members, including two serotypes of coxsackie virus A (CV-A13 and CV-A20) and a numbered Enterovirus C serotype (EV-C99) were obtained from stool isolates [9] by the Enterovirus research group, Department of Virology, [BLINDED FOR PEER REVIEW]. The test medium used for cytotoxic assays and antiviral assays contained only 2% FBS.

Preparation of viral stocks

To increase the quantity of virion stocks, virus suspension (200 µL) was inoculated into the T25 flask of cultured MCF-7 cells, and incubated at 37 °C for about 72 h for 100% cytopathic effect. Afterwards, medium was centrifuged and aliquots of supernatant were made into cryovials. All viral stocks were stored at − 70 °C until use.

Tissue culture infective dose (TCID50)

Virus titre was determined by virus-induced cytopathic effect (vCPE) in MCF-7 cell and were expressed as 50% tissue culture infective concentration (TCID50) per mL. Briefly, 100 µL MCF-7 cell suspension (1 × 105 cells/mL) was seeded into a 96-well microtitre plate and incubated for 24 h to form monolayer. Afterward, virus suspension (100 µL) was inoculated into the eight wells (as replicates) of each column 1–10 with varying (ten-fold serially diluted- 10–1 to 10–10) concentration per column. Column 11 and 12 served as the cell control. Plate was incubated at 37 °C, and daily CPE scoring was done for about 7 days when cell control wells started dying off. The TCID50 values were determined using Spearman–Karber’s method and 100 TCID50 was used for the antiviral assay.

Cytotoxicity assay

The maximum nontoxic concentration (MNTC) test of crude fractions to MCF-7 cells in culture was determined by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT, Sigma Aldrich®) assay, a colorimetric assay that reliably measures cell viability. Previously described method by Mossmann [32] was adopted. Briefly, previously seeded monolayers of MCF-7 cells in a 96-well microtitre plate was treated with six serial ten-fold dilutions (1000 to 0.01 μg/mL) of stock solutions of crude and peptide-rich fractions in maintenance medium (2% MEM) for 72 h. Afterwards, plates were observed for MNTC on the cells under an inverted microscope (OLYMPUS CKX31). Afterward, old medium was removed and 25 μL of prepared MTT reagent in phosphate buffer saline (PBS) (2 mg/mL) was added to each well, including controls and plate returned to the incubator for 2 h. Then, DMSO (75 μL) was added to solubilize the formazan crystals formed. Optical density values were obtained by spectrophotometry (Multiscan 347, MTX lab) at 490 nm. Data obtained was used to determine 50% cytotoxic concentration (CC50).

Virus-induced cytopathic effect (vCPE) reduction assay

Previously described neutralization method [27, 40] was employed to evaluate the antiviral vCPE inhibition effects of pre-purified peptide fractions on the three species C enteroviruses. Concisely, six serial two-fold dilutions made from the MNTC of each of the fractions was added to confluent cell monolayers in a 96-well plate, and allowed to adsorb for about 1 h at 37 °C, after which 100 TCID50 virus suspension was added. Plates were incubated at 37 °C for 72 h (plant fractions were kept during incubation). Positive control (virus control) wells were infected with the same concentration of virus but untreated with fractions, while negative (cell control) wells contained only maintenance medium (uninfected and untreated cell). Plates was observed preliminarily under the microscope for vCPE. Thereafter, MTT colorimetric measure was employed as described earlier. The concentration that reduced 50% of CPE with respect to the virus control was defined as the 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50). Since there are no approved antiviral drugs for enterovirus infections, no standard drug was used.

Data analysis

Selective index, CC50 and IC50

The 50% cytotoxic concentration (CC50) and the 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) for each extract was calculated from non-linear regression analysis using GraphPad prism5. The selective index, which is the index of safety margin is defined as CC50 over IC50.

Results

Thin layer chromatography (TLC) chemical detection of cysteine-rich peptides

The bound P-PPf was eluted from the aqueous-rich fraction by reverse-phase solid-phase extraction (RP-SPE) using C18 columns (Phenomenex, Aschaffenburg, Germany). On spraying with freshly prepared G-250 modified stain, all partially purified peptide fraction spotted on TLC pre-coated plates produced a bright blue colouration indicating the presence of cysteine-rich peptides which may be circular in their configuration (Fig. 1a). Furthermore, on spraying with ninhydrin (which characterizes presence of amino acids, amines and linear peptide by colour change from purple to red) Ninhydrin presented colour changes indicative of the presence of peptides, likely a combination of linear and circular peptides if present (Fig. 1b).

Fig. 1
figure 1

Chromatogram showing the chemical detection of peptides from plants using a modified G250 stain and b Ninhydrin. Allamanda blanchetii = AB; Allamanda cathartica = AC; Euphorbia Gramineae = RC; Euphorbia hirta = IR; Euphorbia humifusa = EH; Phyllanthus amarus = PA; Ixora coccinea = IC

Tissue culture infective dose (TCID50)

As determined by Spearman–Karber’s method, the virus titre for CV-A13 and EV-C99 gave the value of 10–4 with 100 TCID50 calculated as 10–2, while CV-A20 a virus titre value of 10–3 with 100 TCID50 calculated to be 10–1.

Cytotoxic activities of crude and pre-purified peptide fractions

The aqueous crude and P-PPf of each plant both had equal MNTC value in MCF-7 cells. All the tested fractions had a common MNTC value of 10 µg/mL, except for Allamanda blanchetii and Euphorbia humifusa (100 µg/mL) (Table 1). As shown by the CC50 values (Table 2), the peptide fraction of Ixora coccinea (ICp) relatively had the highest cytotoxicity (19.7 μg/mL) followed by the peptide of Allamanda cathartica (20.5 μg/mL), while the peptide fraction of Euphorbia humifusa (EHu) had the lowest (169.0 μg/mL).

Table 1 Plants species evaluated for antiviral activity
Table 2 Antiviral Activity of crude aqueous fraction and partially purified peptide fractions on three NPESC members

Antiviral screening of crude and peptide fractions

All tested fractions showed considerable antiviral activity variably on the three viruses (Table 2). Also, all P-PPfs showed antiviral activity across the three NPESC members except for Allamanda blanchetii, Allamanda cathartica, Phyllanthus amarus, and Ixora coccinea. In general, the antiviral activity of crude and peptide fractions of each plant is consistent, with enhanced effect observed with the peptide fractions.

Discussion

Historically, medicinal plants have been a valuable source for drug discovery. Plant peptides are gaining attention for drug discovery exploration especially, cysteine-rich circular peptides due to their stability [3, 11, 50]. Antimicrobial function of plant peptides in plant innate immunity can be explored for antiviral drug discovery [3, 16]. Though poliovirus infection is on the edge of eradication, there is need to search for antivirals against nonpolio enteroviruses that can substitute the niche as the leading cause of paralysis in children [5].

In this study, all tested pre-purified peptide fractions from the Euphorbia species notably showed antiviral effect across all the NPESC serotypes. Euphorbia hirta evidently showed best activity with IC50 (≤ 2 µg/mL) and high index of safety margins (SI ≥ 81). Members of Euphorbiaceae family especially, Euphorbia species extract have been demonstrated for in vitro antiviral activity against RNA and DNA viruses [10, 13, 21, 22, 25, 37, 38, 40, 42, 44, 51]. Also, various in vitro antiviral activities against hepatitis B, herpes simplex virus, influenza viruses, rhinovirus, and enterovirus [4, 6, 30, 33, 43, 46] have been displayed by some small molecules from Euphorbia. Thus, this finding is consistent with reports on antiviral potentials of Euphorbia species. Among the three Euphorbia species tested, E. hirta was observed to show best antiviral activity across the three NPESC serotypes with its p-PPf exerting highly selective antiviral activity, more enhanced than its crude fraction; which is further evident in the relatively higher selective index values of P-PPf of E. hirta (Table 2). E. hirta has been documented in ethnomedicine use against infections including viral infections in Philippines, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka [41]. Similar peptides with varying proportion or varying peptide constituents in the tested Euphorbia species could be responsible for their unequal antiviral activity. Ongoing process of isolation and characterization of the peptides will reveal this clearly.

Partially purified peptide fractions from Allamanda blanchetii showed moderate antiviral effect only on CV-A13 while Allamanda cathartica lacked antiviral effect only on CV-A13. This varying antiviral effects of the two Allamanda species observed across the three NPESC serotypes could suggest disparate peptide constituents in the two species. Nguyen and his group reported the presence of allotides, proline-rich cystine knot α-amylase inhibitors from Allamanda cathartica; the extremely stable disulphide-rich peptides with alpha amylase activity and poor antimicrobial activity [36].

The antiviral assay design was prophylactic and not therapeutic. Thus, possible mechanism of antiviral action could be the prevention of virus attachment/entry into susceptible MCF-7 cell line used or inhibition of a replication stage that is downstream of entry or direct effect on virion (virucidal). CV-A13 and CV-A20 use cell surface receptor intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) for entry into susceptible cells [19], thus binding of peptides to the glycoprotein ICAM-1 is a possible antiviral target. However, alternate cell entry have been documented for CV-A20 other than ICAM-1 [34], indicating the differing results for some partially purified peptides exhibiting antiviral activity on CV-A13 and not on CV-A20. Plant-derived cysteine knot peptides include alpha amylase inhibitors, cyclotides, thionins, and defensins whose bioactivities lead to blocking of viral infection by clustering the viral particles and blocking receptor binding [35, 47]. These disulphide stabilised peptides mediate in the inhibition of viral entry, viral particle disruption, interference with essential cell signalling or viral gene expression [26], or by other poorly-understood mechanisms. In addition to the antiviral activities, cysteine-rich peptides such as defensins modulate adaptive immune responses via mobilization of dendritic cells, induction of their maturation, enhancement of antigen uptake, and mobilization of T Lymphocytes (CD4 + and CD8 + effector T cells) to sites of infection, due to the T cell-chemoattracting effect of defensins [47, 49].

Conclusion

Semi-purified cysteine-rich peptides in the tested Euphorbia species displayed notable antiviral activity against non-polio enterovirus species C; CV-A13, CV-A20 and EV-C99 in MCF-7 cell culture system. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first antiviral report on semi-purified peptides from the tested plant species and therefore provides scientific rationale for a more extensive study of the individual peptides, molecular targets, safety and efficacy as potential peptide-based therapeutics.

Availability of data and materials

Available from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request.

Abbreviations

FHI:

Forestry Herbarium Ibadan

cVDPVs:

Circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses

NPESC:

Non-polio enterovirus species C

OPV:

Oral polio vaccine

IHR:

The International Health Regulations

P-PPf:

Partiallypurified peptide fraction

TLC:

Thin layer chromatography

UV:

Ultraviolet

DMSO:

Dimethylsulfoxide

WHO:

World Health Organization

MEM:

Minimum essential medium

FBS:

Fetal bovine serum

vCPE:

Virus-induced cytopathic effect

TCID:

Tissue culture infective dose

MNTC:

Maximum non-toxic concentration

BSAA:

Broad-spectrum antiviral activity

ICAM:

Intercellular adhesion molecule

References

  1. Adeniji AJ, Faleye TCO. Impact of cell lines included in enterovirus isolation protocol on perception of nonpolio enterovirus species c diversity. J Virol Methods. 2014;207:238–47. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1016/j.jviromet.2014.07.016.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Attah AF, Hellinger R, Sonibare MA, Moody JO, Arrowsmith S, Wray S, Gruber CW. Ethobotanical survey of Rinorea dentata (violaceae) used in South-Western Nigerian ethnomedicine and detection of cyclotides. J Ethnopharmacol. 2016;179:83–91.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Broekaert WF, Cammue BPA, De Bolle MFC, Thevissen K, De Samblanx GW, Osborn RW. Antimicrobial peptides from plants. Crit Rev Plant Sci. 1997;16:297–323. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1080/07352689709701952.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Chang SY, Park JH, Kim YH, Kang JS, Min J-Y. A natural component from Euphorbia humifusa willd displays novel, broad-spectrum anti-influenza activity by blocking nuclear export of viral ribonucleoprotein. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2016;471:282–9.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Chard AN, Datta SD, Tallis G, Burns CC, Wassilak SG, Vertefeuille JF, Zaffran M. Progress toward polio eradication—worldwide, January 2018–March 2020. Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2020;69:784.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Cheng H-Y, Lin T-C, Yang C-M, Wang K-C, Lin L-T, Lin C-C. Putranjivain a from Euphorbia jolkini inhibits both virus entry and late stage replication of herpes simplex virus type 2 in vitro. J Antimicrob Chemother. 2004;53:577–83.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Dufresne AT, Gromeier M. A nonpolio enterovirus with respiratory tropism causes poliomyelitis in intercellular adhesion molecule 1 transgenic mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci. 2004;101:13636–41.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Fahradpour M, Keov P, Tognola C, Perez-Santamarina E, Mccormick PJ, Ghassempour A, Gruber CW. Cyclotides isolated from an ipecac root extract antagonize the corticotropin releasing factor type 1 receptor. Front Pharmacol. 2017;8:1–14. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3389/fphar.2017.00616.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Faleye T, Adewumi M, Japhet M, David O, Oluyege A, Adeniji J, Famurewa O. Non-polio enteroviruses in faeces of children diagnosed with acute flaccid paralysis in Nigeria. Virol J. 2017;14:175. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1186/s12985-017-0846-x.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Faral-Tello P, Mirazo S, Dutra C, Pérez A, Geis-Asteggiante L, Frabasile S, Koncke E, Davyt D, Cavallaro L, Heinzen H. Cytotoxic, virucidal, and antiviral activity of South American plant and algae extracts. Sci World J. 2012. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1100/2012/174837.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Findlay EG, Currie SM, Davidson DJ. Cationic host defence peptides: potential as antiviral therapeutics. BioDrugs. 2013;39:1–15. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1007/s40259-013-0039-0.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. GPEI-WHO. Polio this week in nigeria. March 2019 ed. Global Polio Eradication Initiative, World Health Organization, Geneva. 2019. www.polioeradication.org/where-we-work/nigeria/. Accessed 20 April 2020.

  13. Gyuris A, Szlavik L, Minarovits J, Vasas A, Molnar J, Hohmann J. Antiviral activities of extracts of Euphorbia hirta l. Against HIV-1, HIV-2 and SIVMAC251. In Vivo. 2009;23:429–32.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Hashempour H, Koehbach J, Daly NL, Ghassempour A, Gruber CW. Characterizing circular peptides in mixtures: Sequence fragment assembly of cyclotides from a violet plant by maldi-tof/tof mass spectrometry. Amino Acids. 2013;44:581–95. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1007/s00726-012-1376-x.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Hellinger R, Koehbach J, Puigpinos A, Clark RJ, Tarrago T, Giralt E, et al. Inhibition of human prolyl oligopeptidase activity by the cyclotide psysol 2 isolated from Psychotria solitudinum. J Nat Prod. 2015;78:1073–82. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1021/np501061t.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  16. Hellinger R, Koehbach J, Soltis DE, Carpenter EJ, Wong GK-S, Gruber CW. Peptidomics of circular cysteine-rich plant peptides—analysis of the diversity of cyclotides from viola tricolor by transcriptome- and proteome-mining. J Proteome Res. 2015;14:4851–62.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Henninot A, Collins JC, Nuss JM. The current state of peptide drug discovery: back to the future? J Med Chem. 2018;61:1382–414. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.7b00318.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Hiemstra PS, Zaat SJ. Antimicrobial peptides and innate immunity. London: Springer-Basel; 2013.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  19. Jonsson N, Gullberg M, Israelsson S, Lindberg AM. A rapid and efficient method for studies of virus interaction at the host cell surface using enteroviruses and real-time PCR. Vir J. 2009;6:217–217. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1186/1743-422X-6-217.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Kapoor A, Ayyagari A, Dhole T. Non-polio enteroviruses in acute flaccid paralysis. Ind J Pediatr. 2001;68:927–9.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Karimi A, Mohammadi-Kamalabadi M, Rafieian-Kopaei M, Amjad L. Determination of antioxidant activity, phenolic contents and antiviral potential of methanol extract of Euphorbia spinidens bornm (euphorbiaceae). Trop J Pharm Res. 2016;15:759–64.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Lam WY, Leung KT, Law PTW, Lee SMY, Chan HLY, Fung KP, Ooi VEC, Waye MMY. Antiviral effect of Phyllanthus nanus ethanolic extract against Hepatitis B virus (HBV) by expression microarray analysis. J Cell Biochem. 2006;97:795–812.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Lau JL, Dunn MK. Therapeutic peptides: historical perspectives, current development trends, and future directions. Bioorg Med Chem. 2017;26:2700–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Lee AC-L, Harris JL, Khanna KK, Hong J-H. A comprehensive review on current advances in peptide drug development and design. Int J Mol Sci. 2019;20:1–21. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijms20102383.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Lin C-C, Cheng H-Y, Yang C-M, Lin T-C. Antioxidant and antiviral activities of Euphorbia thymifolia l. J Biomed Sci. 2002;9:656–64.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Lin S, Liu M, Wang S, Li S, Yang Y, Shi J. Coumarins from branch of Fraxinus sieboldiana and their antioxidative activity. Zhongguo Zhong yao za zhi = Zhongguo zhongyao zazhi = China J Chin Mater Med. 2008;33:1708–10.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Lin Y-J, Chang Y-C, Hsiao N-W, Hsieh J-L, Wang C-Y, Kung S-H, Tsai F-J, Lan Y-C, Lin C-W. Fisetin and rutin as 3c protease inhibitors of enterovirus A71. J Virol Methods. 2012;182:93–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Ljungman P. Vaccination of immunocompromised patients. Clin Microbiol Infect. 2012;18:93–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Maria N, Zaid A, Catrin S, Ahmed K, Ahmed A, Christos I, Maliha A, Riaz A. The socio-economic implications of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19): a review. Int J Surg. 2020;78:185–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Madureira A, Ascenso J, Valdeira L, Duarte A, Frade J, Freitas G, Ferreira M. Evaluation of the antiviral and antimicrobial activities of triterpenes isolated from Euphorbia segetalis. Nat Prod Res. 2003;17:375–80.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Morrison C. Constrained peptides’ time to shine? Nat Rev Drug Disc. 2018;17:531–3. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1038/nrd.2018.125.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Mosmann T. Rapid colorimetric assay for cellular growth and survival: application to proliferation and cytotoxicity assays. J Immunol Methods. 1983;65(1-2):55–63.

  33. Mucsi I, Molnár J, Hohmann J, Rédei D. Cytotoxicities and anti-herpes simplex virus activities of diterpenes isolated from euphorbia species. Planta Med. 2001;67:672–4.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Newcombe NG, Andersson P, Johansson ES, Au GG, Lindberg AM, Barry RD, Shafren DR. Cellular receptor interactions of c-cluster human group a coxsackieviruses. J Gen Virol. 2003;84:3041–50. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1099/vir.0.19329-0.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Nguyen KNT, Nguyen GKT, Nguyen PQT, Ang KH, Dedon PC, Tam JP. Immunostimulating and gram-negative-specific antibacterial cyclotides from the butterfly pea (Clitoria ternatea). FEBS J. 2016;283:2067–90.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Nguyen PQ, Luu TT, Bai Y, Nguyen GK, Pervushin K, Tam JP. Allotides: proline-rich cystine knot α-amylase inhibitors from Allamanda cathartica. J Nat Prod. 2015;78:695–704.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Nothias-Scaglia L-F, Dumontet V, Neyts J, Roussi F, Costa J, Leyssen P, Litaudon M, Paolini J. Lc-ms2-based dereplication of euphorbia extracts with anti-chikungunya virus activity. Fitoterapia. 2015;105:202–9.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. Notka F, Meier G, Wagner R. Inhibition of wild-type human immunodeficiency virus and reverse transcriptase inhibitor-resistant variants by Phyllanthus amarus. Antivir Res. 2003;58:175–86.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Obi S, Yunusa T, Ezeogueri-oyewole A, Sekpe S, Egwemi E, Isiaka A. The socio-economic impact of covid-19 on the economic activities of selected states in Nigeria. Indones J Soc Environ Issue. 2020;1:39–47.

    Google Scholar 

  40. Ogbole OO, Akinleye TE, Segun PA, Faleye TC, Adeniji AJ. In vitro antiviral activity of twenty-seven medicinal plant extracts from southwest Nigeria against three serotypes of echoviruses. Virology J. 2018;15:110. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1186/s12985-018-1022-7.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  41. Perera SD, Jayawardena UA, Jayasinghe CD. Potential use of Euphorbia hirta for dengue: a systematic review of scientific evidence. J Trop Med. 2018. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1155/2018/2048530.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  42. Ramezani M, Behravan J, Arab M, Farzad SA. Antiviral activity of Euphorbia helioscopia extract. J Biol Sci. 2008;8:809–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Tian Y, Sun L-M, Li B, Liu X-Q, Dong J-X. New anti-HBV caryophyllane-type sesquiterpenoids from Euphorbia humifusa willd. Fitoterapia. 2011;82:251–4.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  44. Torky ZA. Antiviral activity of Euphorbia lectin against herpes simplex virus 1 and its antiproliferative activity against human cancer cell-line. J Antivir Antiretrovir. 2016;8:107–16. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.4172/1948-5964.1000142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Vilas Boas LCP, Campos ML, Berlanda RLA, De Carvalho NN, Franco OL. Antiviral peptides as promising therapeutic drugs. Cell Mol Life Sci. 2019;76:3525–42. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1007/s00018-019-03138-w.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  46. Wang B, Wei Y, Zhao X, Tian X, Ning J, Zhang B, Deng S, Li D, Ma X, Wang C. Unusual ent-atisane type diterpenoids with 2-oxopropyl skeleton from the roots of Euphorbia ebracteolata and their antiviral activity against human rhinovirus 3 and enterovirus 71. Bioorg Chem. 2018;81:234–40.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  47. Weber F. Antiviral innate immunity: introduction. In: Bamford DH, Zuckerman M, editors. Encyclopedia of virology. Amsterdam: Elsevier; 2021.

    Google Scholar 

  48. Wenyan X, Jun T, Changjiu J, Wenjun H, Ninghua T. Application of a TLC chemical method to detection of cyclotides in plants. Chin Sci Bull. 2008;53:1671–4.

    Google Scholar 

  49. Yang D, Liu ZH, Tewary P, Chen Q, de la Rosa G, Oppenheim JJ. Defensin participation in innate and adaptive immunity. Curr Pharm Des. 2007;13:3131–9.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  50. Zasloff M. Antimicrobial peptides of multicellular organisms. Nature. 2002;415:389–95.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  51. Zheng W, Cui Z, Zhu Q. Cytotoxicity and antiviral activity of the compounds from euphorbia kansui. Planta Med. 1998;64:754–6.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Enterovirus research group of Department of Virology, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria for the provision of virus strains and cell line.

Funding

None.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

OOO conceptualized, supervised research works and methods, TEA carried out investigation, formal analysis, and was major contributor in writing the manuscript, AN carried out plant-peptide screening part of investigation. AA: carried out plants-peptide screening part of investigation. AFA designed plant peptide extraction methodology, MOA supervised and validated antiviral work, AJA conceptualized work and provided materials (cell and virus culture). All authors have read and approved the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Omonike O. Ogbole.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Not Applicable.

Consent for publication

Not Applicable.

Competing interests

All authors of this manuscript declare they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ogbole, O.O., Akinleye, T.E., Nkumah, A.O. et al. In vitro antiviral activity of peptide-rich extracts from seven Nigerian plants against three non-polio enterovirus species C serotypes. Virol J 18, 161 (2021). https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1186/s12985-021-01628-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1186/s12985-021-01628-7

Keywords