A review study on the effect of Iranian herbal medicines against in vitro replication of herpes simplex virus

Abstract

<br/><strong>Objective: </strong>There are a number of published data indicating <em>in vitro</em> anti-HSV activity of some of Iranian herbal extracts with no systematic review to discuss these results. Therefore, this article was aimed to review and discuss the methods carried out and the phytochemistry and bioactivity of the extracts used and also conclusions provided in these publications. <br/><strong>Materials and Methods:</strong> Published articles both in English (from Medline, Science Direct, EMBASE, Scopus, Pro Quest, Google scholar, Cochrane Library) and in Persian (from SID, Iran Medex and Magiran) databases, from 1966 to October 2014 were incorporated in this review. The <em>in vitro</em> studies that lacked CC₅₀, IC₅₀, were excluded. <br/><strong>Results:</strong> Only 42 published reports were found to examine Iranian herbs against HSV replication <em>in vitro. </em>Seventeen out of 42 studies in which 23 kinds of medicinal plants were subjected to crude extraction were included. The review of data showed that some of the herbal extracts including <em>Hyssopus officinalis </em>methanolic extract, <em>Melissa officinalis </em>aqueous extract, <em>Quercus persica </em>L. hydroalcoholic extract and <em>Securigeras ecuridaca </em>methanolic extract with selective index (SI) of 234, 877, >778 and 250, respectively were highly effective against HSV <em>in vitro.</em> <br/><strong>Conclusion:</strong> More comprehensive studies using more advanced methods are needed to be done to achieve promising anti-HSV agents from the bioactive compounds isolated from these herbs.