Experimental and clinical study on inhibitory effects of Reduqing on human cytomegalovirus / 中国新药与临床杂志

ABSTRACT

AIM:To study the therapeutic effect of traditional Chinese medicine Reduqing on human cytomegalovirus (HCMV). METHODS:The expression of the HCMV late-mRNA in infected cells was measured by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) and the development of cytopathic effect (CPE) caused by HCMV was observed before and after treatment with Reduqing. On the basis of its anti-HCMV activity study in vitro, Reduqing was applied to the child-bearing aged women and pregnant women who were HCMV-IgM positive which indicated the active HCMV infection. The serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-2 (IL-2) before and after treatment were measured by the ELISA method. RESULTS:The results showed that the Reduqing had a strong inhibitory effect on both HCMV-mRNA and CPE. The level of the TNF-α increased while IL-2 decreased significantly in HCMV-IgM positive serum when compared with HCMV-IgM negative cases. In HCMV-IgM positive patients, after treatment with Reduqing, the serum levels of TNF-α and IL-2 returned to normal, and 73 % of them turned to be HCMV-IgM negative, which was significantly higher than that (14 %) in control group. CONCLUSION:It is suggested that serum TNF-α and IL-2 level are closely related to the activity of HCMV. Reduqing can enhance the immunity of the body and has an obvious inhibition on HCMV in vitro and in vivo, and can thus serve as an effective medicine for active HCMV infection therapy, especially for the pregnant women.