Abstract:
The use of medicinal plants for AIDS-related conditions is common in South Africa. In order to establish
an antiviral rationale for the use of these plants we screened fractions of the methanol extracts of
medicinal plants for activity against HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) and integrase (IN). The n-butanol
fraction obtained from the crude methanol extracts of the roots of Bridelia micrantha (Hochst) Baill.
(Euphorbiaceae) was observed to be as the most active inhibiting the RNA-dependent-DNA
polymerization (RDDP) activity of HIV-1 RT with an IC50 of 7.3 g/ml. However, it had no activity on the
3’-end processing activity of HIV integrase. Bioassay-guided fractionation of the n-butanol fraction
yielded friedelin and -sistosterol, which did not inhibit the RDDP of RT or 3’-end processing functions
of IN even at a concentration of 500 M. An uncharacterized fraction obtained in the bioassay-guided
fractionating process inhibited the RDDP with an IC50 of 9.6 g/ml, but had no inhibition on IN.
Phytochemical screening indicated the presence of flavonoids and tannins in the uncharacterized
fraction.
