Inhibition of HIV-1 Reverse Transcriptase Activity by the Extracts of Indian Plants

抄録

As the currently available therapies for HIV-1 have high costs and are associated with the appearance of multi-drug resistant HIV-1 strains, the Indian traditional medicine system Ayurveda may provide useful alternatives. In this study, we screened the inhibitory activities of various extracts of five Indian plants for inhibitory effects on HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT). Water extracts of the leaves of Argemone mexicana strongly inhibited the DNA polymerase activity of HIV1 RT, which indicated that they contained substances with inhibitor activity. Neither heat treatment at 100ºC nor proteinase K treatment of the extracts abolished the inhibitory activity, suggesting that the inhibitory substance was an organic compound rather than a protein.