Yafteh

Background : plants have had special position in human life and their medicinal application have been observed in manuscripts of many world scientists. Nowadays the treatment of HSV-1 infections with the available

 chemical drugs often leads to the problems due to viral resistance and virus latency duration, therefore there is a requirement for new anti-herpes drugs.In this research the antiviral effects of  Camellia sinesis, Echium amoenumL and Nerium oleander, with ethnomedical background on HSV-1 were studied.

Materials and Methods:The plants were extracted with decoction method to obtain aqueous extracts and after evaluating their cytotoxicity on Hep-2 cell lines by evaluating CPE, antiherpes effect of the plants extracts were determined by cytopathic effect inhibition assay.

Results: Nerium oleander extract had the  most toxicity (> 50 μg/ml) on cell line and Camellia sinesis showed the most inhibitory property on HSV-1 multiplication. Echium amoenumL had the lowest antiherpes effect. Camellia sinesis was inhibitor of virus multiplication completely at 50-1000 μg/ml and Echium amoenumL at concentrations >300 μg/ml.

Conclusion: Camellia sinesis and Echium amoenumL could inhibit well HSV-1 multiplication completely at concentrations nontoxic. Further researches are needed to find the effect mechanism of these drugs which may be used in the manufacture of new antiherpes drugs.