Aloe induces interferon and inhibits Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV) and Enterovirus 71 (E71) replication. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Aloe-emodin is an interferon-inducing agent with antiviral activity against Japanese encephalitis virus and enterovirus 71.
Planta Med. 2009 Mar;75(4):337-9. Epub 2009 Jan 15. PMID: 18701259
In this study, aloe-emodin was identified as a potential interferon (IFN)-inducer by screening compounds from Chinese herbal medicine. Aloe-emodin showed low cytotoxicity to human HL-CZ promonocyte cells and TE-671 medulloblastoma cells and significantly activated interferon-stimulated response element (ISRE) and gamma-activated sequence (GAS)-driven cis-reporting systems. Moreover, aloe-emodin upregulated expression of IFN-stimulated genes such as dsRNA-activated protein kinase and 2',5'-oligoisoadenylate synthase. Aloe-emodin resulted in significant activation of nitric oxide production. The antiviral activity of aloe-emodin against Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) and enterovirus 71 (EV71) was evaluated using dose- and time-dependent plaque reduction assays in HL-CZ cells and TE-671 cells. The 50% inhibitory concentration (IC(50)) of aloe-emodin ranged from 0.50mug/mL to 1.51mug/mL for JEV and from 0.14mug/mL to 0.52mug/mL for EV71. Aloe-emodin showed clearly potent virus inhibitory abilities and achieved high therapeutic indices, in particular for HL-CZ cells. Therefore, the study demonstrated dose- and time-dependent actions of aloe-emodin on the inhibition of JEV and EV71 replication via IFN signalling responses.