Antiviral activity and active components of the leaves from Sabia parviflora Wall. ex Roxb

Abstract

Sabia parviflora (SP, “xiao hua qing feng teng” in Chinese) was recorded as an important ethnic medicine to be used for treating viral hepatitis. The antiviral activity of four SP extracts and potent antiviral compounds evaluated with cathepsin L protease (Cat L PR) and HIV-1 protease (HIV-1 PR). UPLC-HRMS was used for identifying the bioactive components. In addition, the possible inhibitory mechanism of the identified compounds on viral protease was further discussed by molecular docking. As a result, four extracts of SP exhibited inhibitory activity of HIV-1 PR and Cat L PR with IC₅₀ range from 0.015 to 0.80 mg/mL. Meanwhile, six compounds inhibited HIV-1 PR with IC₅₀ range from 0.032 to 0.80 mg/mL. Moreover, procyanidin B2 had good affinity for HIV-1 PR and CatL PR protein, respectively. These findings suggest S. parviflora leaves can be used for treating HIV and procyanidin B2 may play a role in antiviral protease.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Sabia parviflora wall
• protease
• active component
• molecular docking
• UPLC-HRMS

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The project was supported by grants from the Science and Technology Planning Project of Guizhou Province [grant no. Qian Ke He Zhi cheng [2020] 4Y213 and Qian Ke He Foundation ZK [2021] General 518], the Innovation Group Project of Guizhou Province [grant no. Qian Jiao He KY [2021] 018], the Association of Natural Science of Foundation of China [grant no. 81760758] and Research Center of Molecular Bioactivity from Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ethnomedicine [grant no. 3411-4110000520364], Shenzhen Fund for Guangdong Provincial High-level Clinical Key Specialties [grant no. SZXK059], and Bright Future Fund for Guangdong Provincial Hospital Pharmacology Research [grant no. 2023A13].