Fructus Amomi Cardamomi Extract Inhibits Coxsackievirus-B3 Induced Myocarditis in a Murine Myocarditis Model

Coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) is the main cause of acute myocarditis and dilated cardiomyopathy. Plant extracts are considered as useful materials to develop new antiviral drugs. We had previously selected candidate plant extracts, which showed anti-inflammatory effects. We examined the antiviral effects by using a HeLa cell survival assay. Among these extracts, we chose the Amomi Cardamomi (Amomi) extract, which showed strong antiviral effect and preserved cell survival in CVB3 infection. We investigated the mechanisms underlying the ability of Amomi extract to inhibit CVB3 infection and replication. HeLa cells were infected by CVB3 with or without Amomi extract. Erk and Akt activities, and their correlation with virus replication were observed. Live virus titers in cell supernatants and viral positive-and negative-strand RNA amplification were measured. Amomi extract significantly increased HeLa cell survival in different concentrations (100-10 mu g/ml). CVB3 capsid protein VP1 expression (76%) and viral protease 2A-induced eIF4G1 cleavage (70%) were significantly decreased in Amomi extract (100 mu g/ml) treated cells. The levels of positive- (20%) and negative-strand (80%) RNA were dramatically decreased compared with the control, as revealed by reverse transcription-PCR. In addition, Amomi extract improved mice survival (51% vs 26%) and dramatically reduced heart inflammation in a CVB3-induced myocarditis mouse model. These results suggested that Amomi extract significantly inhibited Enterovirus replication and myocarditis damage. Amomi may be developed as a therapeutic drug for Enterovirus.