SCREENING OF VARIOUS PLANT-EXTRACTS USED IN AYURVEDIC MEDICINE FOR INHIBITORY EFFECTS ON HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS TYPE-1 (HIV-1) PROTEASE

To identify substances with anti-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) activity in traditional medicines, water and methanol extracts of crude drugs used in Indian traditional medicine (Ayurveda) were subjected to screening for their inhibitory effects on HIV type 1 protease (PR). The enzyme activity was determined by HPLC and of the 39 crude drugs tested, the extracts of the seeds of Areca catechu, the bark of Eugenia jambolana, the bark of Saraca indica and the stem bark of Terminalia arjuna inhibited the HIV-1 PR activity by more than 70% at a concentration of 0.2 mg/mL. The most potent inhibition was shown by the A. catechu extract, from which some procyanidins were isolated. One of them, arecatannin B1 showed significant HIV-1-PR inhibitory activity.