BACKGROUND: Finding the new
bioactive compounds with antiviral activity from
the natural resources are in interest of many drug
discovery scientists. Sea cucumber is among the
marine organisms a traditional food item in Asia
with different applications in traditional medicine.
METHODS: In current study, a cold water extract
of the Holothuria sp, one type Persian Gulf’s
sea cucumber was evaluated for its antiviral effects
against KOS strain of Herpes Simplex Virus
tyoe 1 (HSV-1) in cell culture. The half maximal inhibitory
concentration (IC50) values were calculated
for anti-adsorption activity and intracellular antiviral
activity of the crude extract separately.
RESULTS: The extract exhibited antiviral activity
not only against the virus adsorption to the cells,
but also on virus intracellular replication.The CC50
for sea cucumber extract was 32.57 mg/ml. The
IC50 values for the inhibition of the virus adsorption
to the cells and virus intracellular replication
were 120.2 and 189.9 μg/ml respectively. Selectivity
index (SI) value for anti-adsorption activity was
189 while that value for the extract’s intracellular
antiviral activity was 172.
CONCLUSIONS: The results showed that
Holothuria sp, water extract has remarkable antiviral
effect against HSV-1 in cell culture and it
is crucial to investigate the mechanism(s) of action
of extract. Moreover, identification of the effective
compound(s) within the extract would be
necessary for future studies towards developing
the new natural antiviral agent against HSV-1