Antiviral Activity and Constituents of the Nepalese Medicinal Plant Astilbe rivularis
Meena Rajbhandari, Michael Lalk, Renate Mentel and Ulrike Lindequist
Research Center for Applied Science and Technology, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal
Institute of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, University of Greifswald, D-17487, Germany
Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute of Medical Microbiology, University of Greifswald, D-17487, Germany
Abstract: During the screening of Nepalese ethnomedicinal plants for antiviral activities, Astilbe rivularis Buch.-Ham. , Saxifragaceae, was identified as a promising species. Bioassay-guided fractionation led to the isolation of arbutin, bergenin and a bergenin derivative. The structures were established by NMR studies. Except bergenin, the two compounds were found in this plant for the first time. A dimer of bergenin has not been described as a natural product before. The compounds showed in vitro antiviral activity against herpes simplex virus type-1 in non cytotoxic concentrations.
Keywords: Astilbe rivularis ; antiviral; arbutin; bergenin; dimer of bergenin. |