<i>Ficus septica</i> plant extracts for treating Dengue virus <i>in vitro</i>

Abstract

Dengue virus types 1-4 (DENV-1-4) are positive-strand RNA viruses with an envelope that belongs to the <i>Flaviviridae</i>. DENV infection threatens human health worldwide. However, other than supportive treatments, no specific therapy is available for the infection. In order to discover novel medicine against DENV, we tested 59 crude extracts, without cytotoxicity, from 23 plants <i>in vitro</i>; immunofluorescence assay revealed that the methanol extracts of fruit, heartwood, leaves and stem from <i>Ficus septica</i> Burm. f. had a promising anti-DENV-1 and DENV-2 effect. However, infection with the non-envelope <i>picornavirus</i>, Aichi virus, was not inhibited by treatment with <i>F. septica</i> extracts. <i>F. septica</i> may be a candidate antiviral drug against an enveloped virus such as DENV.