In vitro anti influenza virus activity, antioxidant potential and total phenolic content of twelve Iranian medicinal plants

The emergence of medicine resistance strains of influenza A viruses to the chemical drogs lead to the development of alternative herbal compounds that inhibit the virus replication. Therefore, the aim of this research was to investigate in vitro anti-influenza A viruses activity, antioxidant potential, total phenolic, and flavonoid content of a total of 12 hydro alcoholic crude extracts obtained from 8 kinds of medicinal plants. Antiinfluenza A viruses activity of the extracts was investigated by the using of MDCK cell line and MTT (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol– 2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) method. Both 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) and 50% cytotoxicity concentration (CC50) of the extracts were identified using regression analysis. The antioxidant activity, total phenol, and flavonoid content of the extracts were determined using 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay, Folin-Ciocalteu method, and aluminum chloride colorimetric method, respectively. The results demonstrated that there was high activity against influenza virus for Peganum harmala L., Equisetum arvense L., and Punica granatum L, extracts with IC50 value of 9.1 (CI95%:7.3-11.3), 6.45 (CI95%: 4.5-9.23), and 104.5 (CI95%: 82.8-131.8), respectively. DPPH radical scavenging activity showed that both Equisetum arvense L. and Punica granatum L. demonstrated the highest antioxidant activity with IC50 value of 6.5, 6.8 and 7.7 μg/mL, respectively. According to the results, some of these extracts might be further analyzed to develop effective anti-influenza factors.