alloin and chrysophanic-acid

Although the approved hepatitis B virus (HBV)-polymerase inhibitors (e.g., lamivudine) often lead to drug-resistance, several natural products have shown promising efficacies. Though Aloe vera (AV) gel and its constituents are shown inhibitors of many viruses, their anti-HBV activity still remains elusive. We therefore, tested the anti-HBV potential of AV extract and its anthraquinones in hepatoma cells, including molecular docking, high-performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC), and cytochrome P450 (CYP3A4) activation analyses. Our anti-HBV assays (HBsAg/HBeAg Elisa) showed maximal inhibition of viral antigens production by aloe-emodin (~83%) > chrysophanol (~62%) > aloin B (~61%) > AV extract (~37%) in HepG2.2.15 cells. Interestingly, the effect of aloe-emodin was comparable with lamivudine (~86%). Moreover, sequential treatment with lamivudine (pulse) followed by aloe-emodin (chase) enhanced the efficacy of monotherapy by ~12%. Docking (AutoDock Vina) of the anthraquinones indicated strong interactions with HBV-polymerase residues that formed stable complexes with high Gibbs's free energy. Further, identification of aloe-emodin and aloin B by validated HPTLC in AV extract strongly endorsed its anti-HBV potential. In addition, our luciferase-reporter gene assay of transfected HepG2 cells showed moderate induction of CYP3A4 by aloe-emodin. In conclusion, this is the first report on anti-HBV potential of AV-derived anthraquinones, possibly via HBV-polymerase inhibition. Of these, although aloin B exhibits novel antiviral effect, aloe-emodin appears as the most promising anti-HBV natural drug with CYP3A4 activating property towards its enhanced therapeutic efficacy.

Topics: Aloe; Anthraquinones; Antiviral Agents; Cell Line; Emodin; Hep G2 Cells; Hepatitis B; Hepatitis B virus; Humans; Phytotherapy; Plant Extracts

A procedure was developed for the determination of low levels of the anthraquinones aloe-emodin and aloin A (barbalin) in aloe products based on gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) of the trimethyl silyl (TMS) derivatives of these analytes in the presence of Chrysophanol used as internal standard. The method was used to analyze several aloe based commercial products (liquids, gels and solids). Wide variation in the level of these anthraquinones was observed among the different products. The method had a sensitivity of 0.005 ppm of aloe-emodin and 0.05 ppm of aloin.

Topics: Aloe; Anthraquinones; Emodin; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; Indicators and Reagents; Reference Standards; Reproducibility of Results