Abstract
This study screened mastic gum (Pistacia lentiscus L.) for antiviral activity against herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), coxsackievirus type B3, and adenovirus type 5. The organs of this plant (leaves, stem, and seed) were macerated sequentially using solvents of increasing polarity (hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, and methanol). Only the methanol extract of stem exhibited significant activity against HSV-2. This extract showed anti-HSV-2 activity with a selectivity index of 51 (50% cytotoxic concentration = 186 µg/mL; 50% inhibitory concentration = 3.63 µg/mL), and demonstrated direct inhibition against this virus with a virucidal selectivity index of 620 (50% virucidal concentration = 0.30 µg/mL). A bio-guided assay involving thin-layer chromatography led to the isolation of two active compounds, which have been identified as dammaradienone and dammaradienol using high-performance liquid chromatography–diode array detection coupled with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. P. lentiscus has been widely studied for other biological activities. However, to our knowledge, this is the first report of P. lentiscus L. exhibiting antiviral activity.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to Dr. Hela Jaidane, Dr. Khira Zdiri (Faculty of Pharmacy of Monastir, Tunisia), Mrs. Ahlem Ben Yahia and Dr. Hela Kallel (Pasteur Institute of Tunis, Tunisia) for providing CVB-3 and Hep-2 cell line, ADV-5, HSV-2 clinical isolates, and Vero cell line, respectively. The authors would like to thank Enago (www.enago.com) for the English language review.
Funding
This work was supported by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research of Tunisia (Grant number: LR15CBBC03).
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Communicated by Erko Stackebrandt.
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Bouslama, L., Benzekri, R., Nsaibia, S. et al. Identification of an antiviral compound isolated from Pistacia lentiscus. Arch Microbiol 202, 2569–2578 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-020-01980-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-020-01980-2