There is a philosophy that credits to the idea that for every disease humans have stumbled upon, nature has already formulated a cure. We only need to find what the cure is. A team of scientists from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), Hong Kong Baptist University, and the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, working together as an International Cooperative Biodiversity Group (ICBG), have now taken a step closer to proving the philosophy true. The team has published data describing that a plant found all through Southeast Asia conventionally used to treat arthritis and rheumatism contains a powerful compound which is anti- HIV in nature and this compound is found to be more powerful than the drug azidothymidine (AZT).
Journal of Natural Products published the findings from this new study recently in an article with the title “Potent Inhibitor of Drug-Resistant HIV-1 Strains Identified from the Medicinal Plant Justicia gendarussa.”
Thousands of plant extracts were screened for their effect against the HIV virus and Patentiflorin A, the inhibitory compound was derived from the willow-leaved Justicia plant. In their search of natural products, the ICBG team discovered the molecule that may have applications in health and medicine, and also work to support sustainable use
of these resources in low-income countries.The authors said that Justicia gendarussa, a medicinal plant collected in Vietnam was identified as a potent anti-HIV-1 active lead from the evaluation of over 4500 plant extracts and Bioassay-guided separation of the extracts of the stems and roots of this plant led to the isolation of an anti-HIV arylnaphthalene lignan (ANL) glycoside, patentiflorin A. Assessment of the compound against both the M- and T-tropic HIV-1 isolates showed it to possess a appreciably higher inhibition effect than the clinically used anti-HIV drug AZT.”
Justicia plant that was collected in Cuc Phuong National Park in Hanoi and the extract was taken from the leaves, stems, and roots. The ICBG team examined the extract, along with thousands of others, as part of their efforts to identify new drugs against HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, and cancer. The scientists zeroed in on patentiflorin A because of its capacity to inhibit an enzyme required for HIV to integrate its genetic code into a cell’s DNA—reverse transcriptase (RT).
The first anti-HIV drug, AZT, developed and marketed in 1987, and which remains the cornerstone of HIV drug combination today, also inhibits the RT enzyme. In studies of human cells infected with the HIV virus, patentiflorin A had a significantly amplified inhibition effect on the enzyme.
Patentiflorin A was able to inhibit the action of reverse transcriptase much more effectively than AZT, and was able to do this both in the earliest stages of HIV infection when the virus enters macrophage cells, and alter infection when it is present in T cells of the immune system, expressed senior study investigator Lijun Rong, Ph.D., professor of microbiology and immunology at the UIC College of Medicine. It also was effective against known drug-resistant strains of the HIV virus, making it a very promising candidate for further development into a new HIV drug. Patentiflorin A corresponds to a novel anti-HIV agent that can be added to the current anti-HIV drug combination routine to increase suppression of the virus and prevention of AIDS.
Amazingly, the researchers were also able to chemically produce patentiflorin A, a significant achievement that will have a variety of paybacks in the future. Dr. Rong concluded that if they could make the drug in the lab then they don’t need to establish farms to grow and harvest the plant, which otherwise requires significant financial investment, not to mention it has an environmental impact.
