| Summary: | <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The influenza virus is still one of the most important respiratory risks affecting humans which require effective treatments. In this case, traditional medications are of interest. HESA-A is an active natural biological compound from herbal-marine origin. Previous studies have reported that the therapeutic properties of HESA-A are able to treat psoriasis vulgaris and cancers. However, no antiviral properties have been reported.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This study was designed to investigate the potential antiviral properties of HESA-A and its effects in modulating TNF-α and IL-6 cytokine levels. HESA-A was prepared in normal saline as a stock solution (0.8 mg/ml, pH = 7.4). Percentages of cell survival when exposed to different concentrations of HESA-A at different time intervals was determined by MTT assay. To study the potential antiviral activity of HESA-A, Madin-Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) cells were treated with the effective concentration (EC<sub>50</sub>) of HESA-A (0.025 mg/ml) and 100 TCID<sub>50</sub>/0.1 ml of virus sample under different types of exposure.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Based on the MTT method and hemagglutination assay (HA), HESA-A is capable of improving cell viability to 31% and decreasing HA titre to almost 99% in co-penetration exposures. In addition, based on quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), it was found that HESA-A causes decrements in TNF-α and IL-6 cytokine expressions, which was significant for TNF-α (<it>p </it>≤ 0.05) but not for IL-6.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In conclusion, HESA-A was effective against influenza infection through suppressing cytokine expression.</p>
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