AUTHOR=Park Ji Sun , Bae Jaehoon , Jung Jinseok , Kim Joong-Sun , Park Su-Jin 

TITLE=In vitro antiviral activity of abietane diterpenoids isolated from Torreya nucifera against rotavirus infection

JOURNAL=Acta Virologica

VOLUME=67

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/journals/acta-virologica/articles/10.3389/av.2023.11630

DOI=10.3389/av.2023.11630

ISSN=1336-2305

ABSTRACT=<p>Although vaccines have been developed for rotavirus infections, there is currently no effective therapeutic treatment. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of 18-hydroxyferruginol (<bold>1</bold>) and 18-oxoferruginol (<bold>2</bold>) isolated from <italic>Torreya nucifera (T. nucifera)</italic> against bovine G8P[7] and porcine G5P[7] rotaviruses using two different assay strategies: 1) reduction of viral infectivity by neutralizing the virus (virucidal assay) and 2) inhibition of viral replication after infection (post-treatment assay). In the post-treatment assay, compounds <bold>1</bold> and <bold>2</bold> exhibited strong anti-rotavirus activity, with 50% effective concentration values of 24.7 μM (selectivity index; SI= 2.52) and 23.2 μM (SI= 1.75) against bovine G8P[7], 21.1 μM (SI= 2.95) and 22.6 μM (SI= 1.80) against porcine G5P[7], respectively. During viral replication, the two compounds demonstrated stronger inhibition of viral RNA synthesis in the late stages (18 h) than in the early stages (6 h). Compounds <bold>1</bold> and <bold>2</bold> also inhibited the synthesis of viral proteins such as VP6, as determined by immunofluorescence assay. Thus, it appears that compounds <bold>1</bold> and <bold>2</bold> isolated from <italic>T. nucifera</italic> possess strong antiviral activity against rotaviruses, inhibit viral replication, and may be developed into potential plant-derived therapeutic candidates against rotavirus infection.</p>