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Herbal medicine treatment for Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infection is a promising alternative to common medical HCV treatments because it has low unwanted side effects and production costs. This study aimed to evaluate the methanol extract of Garcinia lattissima stem barks as an antiviral compound against strain JFH1 (HCV) genotype 2a. Garcinia lattissima stem bark methanolic extract (GL-SB) was added to Huh7it-1 cells infected with JFHI. Anti HCV activity was determined by Focus-forming unit (FFU) assay and the cytotoxicity activity was analyzed using the 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-Diphenyltetrazolium Bromide (MTT) assay. The GL-SB showed its efficacy as the anti-HCV agent with a 50% cytotoxicity concentration (CC50) of 34.2 µg/mL and a 50% effective concentration (EC50) of 4.7 µg/mL. The co-addition and post-infection phases of GL-SB showed an anti-HCV activity, according to a time-of-addition investigation. These findings imply that GL-SB might be a promising candidate for add-on therapy in the treatment of HCV infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dengue is a major public health threat worldwide, affecting approximately 3 billion people. More than 100 countries in the world located in tropical and subtropical areas, there are at least 100 to 400 million people infected with the dengue virus which causes dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF). Soluble Non Structural Protein (sNS1) DENV is a soluble NS1 protein that is secreted and found in the serum of patients during acute infection. Because of its presence early in infection, sNS1 is used as a diagnostic indicator of acute dengue infection. NS1 can directly activate platelets through TLR4 and can further increase platelet aggregation, endothelial cell adhesion, and phagocytosis by macrophages that can cause thrombocytopenia so that high sNS1 levels are associated with disease severity. From the results of the study showed p <0.05. This indicates that there is a correlation between the presence of NS1 and the severity of dengue infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dengue fever is widely prevalent in Indonesia and many other tropical countries. There has been no antiviral protection against DENV (dengue virus) due to the scarcity of animal models that replicate the symptoms of its infection in humans. Subsequently, Balb/ c mice were used to optimize the animal models that were infected with DENV, and measurements of DENV titer, platelet count and leukocytes counts were taken after six days of CA (Cassia alata leaves extract) treatment to examine the inhibitory activity of viral replication on dengue-infected mice. The results showed that CA significantly reduced DENV titer and increased platelet count compared to the control group (P < 0.05) but had no significant effect on leukocyte counts (P > 0.05). Therefore, it could be implied that Cassia alata could be further investigated for medication against DENV, prospectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dengue is an acute febrile disease caused by dengue virus (DENV) that is transmitted by Aedes sp., which causes serious health conditions in many countries. Non-structural protein 1 (NS1) is a co-factor for the RNA replication of this virus, which represents a new strategy for the identification of dengue. Prompt and accurate laboratory diagnosis of this infection is required to assist in patient triage and management, as well as prevent the spread of this infection. In the present study, we tested the potential of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) as a diagnostic tool for dengue infections. NS1 antigen protein was used as an analyte that targets anti-NS1 antibodies, with their interaction resulting in a change in the refractive index. In comparison to currently available gold-standard detection methods [enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)], SPR showed a similar sensitivity but greater efficiency and simplicity in terms of infection detection. Out of 26 samples collected from patients with dengue in Indonesia, SPR was able to correctly identify all 16 positively infected individuals at a lower concentration and a shorter period of time compared to ELISA and RT-PCR. This study revealed that SPR is a promising tool for DENV detection and potentially other diseases as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Dengue Virus (DENV) infection is a mosquito-borne disease, the most severe manifestation of the infection could lead to a lethal Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever (DHF) and/or Dengue Shock Syndrome (DSS). The currently licensed DENV vaccine has been launched in the market with some limitation applications in the field. Therefore, accurate diagnosis system is needed to identify effective treatment of DENV-infected patients and prevent the fatal outcomes caused by the severe complications. Non-Structural-1 (NS1) protein of DENV has been known as a biomarker for dengue diagnosis since the protein is abundantly circulating in the blood during the acute phase of the disease. Aim: To produce and characterise mouse monoclonal Antibodies (mAbs) anti-DENV NS1 antigen. Materials and Methods: This was an experimental study. Hybridoma mAb-producing cells were obtained by the fusion between PAI mouse myeloma cells and B cells from an immunized mice with lysed Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO-K1) cells expressing NS1 protein. Monoclonal antibodies were tested against native NS1 antigen from DENV1, DENV2, DENV3, and DENV4 respectively, by ELISA, IFA and Western Blot analysis. Results: Hybridoma selection with indirect ELISA showed 16 clones that potentially produce anti-NS1 antibodies. Six out of 16 clones showed positive results by IFA analysis against NS1 transfected CHO-K1 cells. Three mAb clones 4-2D, 4-4F, and 2-7A were able to recognise the specific NS1 antigen for all DENV serotypes and did not react against other DENV proteins. Moreover, clone 4-4F showed dissociation constant (Kd) approximately 1.25+0.47 nM indicating the antibody has a strong binding affinity to NS1 antigen. Conclusion: The monoclonal antibodies anti-NS1 induced by DENV3 Indonesian clinical isolate are potentially used as the main reagent for development of the DENV NS1 diagnostic test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) is major public health problem in tropical and subtropical areas of the world with lack of approved vaccines and effective antiviral therapies. With no current treatment for illness attributed to dengue virus (DENV) infection other than supportive care, therapeutic strategies that use natural extract was developed. Indonesia have many plants that potential for antiviral drμgs such as Pterocarpus indicus Willd (P. indicus ). The objective of this study was to determine the effect of P. indicus to inhibit DENV replication. We used a welldifferentiated hepatocytes-derived cellular carcinoma cell line (Huh-7 it-1 cells) to determine and select antiviral activity. The toxicity effects were determined by MTT assay. Then, the suppression of DENV replication was determined by Focus assay. Dengue infected cells with DMSO were used as control. We found that crude extract (Pi), hexane (Pi.1) and ethyl acetate (Pi.2) extract showed strong inhibition with high selectivity index (SI) of 1,392; 285.36 and 168.56 respectively. Sub fraction of Pi.1 and Pi.2 still showed strong inhibition with high SI. Further sub-sub fraction of Pi.2 such as Pi.2.12 and Pi.2.12.1 still showed inhibition of DENV replication but there was reduction of SI value. The mechanism experiment of Pi.2.12, we found that Pi 2.12 more profound to inhibit in the post infection stage that entry or pre-infection. We conclude that the sub-fraction of Pi.2.12 has potential antiviral activity against DV infection in vitro. Further studies are still needed to investigate the pure compound of Pi.2.12 that inhibit and have advantages in the future as alternative for treatment of DENV infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]