The potential antiviral activity of Malaysia strain schizophyllan extract towards Newcastle disease virus

Abstract

Antiviral drugs have been one of the major attentions in the world nowadays because of the rise in multiple of illnesses and new diseases. However, many of antiviral drugs were developed synthetically and have high toxicity towards cells. Therefore, it is vital to discover antiviral drugs from natural resources that are effective as well as perceived to be safe. Malaysia has been known for its diversified flora and fauna that have potential benefits to human health. In particular, plants and mushrooms have been long known for their medicinal properties and have been fully implemented in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Many mushrooms such as Ganoderma lucidum and Lentinus edodes have been widely recognized for its medical treatment and have been commercialized by many pharmaceutical companies. Consequently, this study on antiviral compound from Schizophyllum commune (Malaysia strain) is important to determine the properties of S. commune isolated locally. S. commune is a fungus that excreted an exopolysaccharide known as Schizophyllan and is believed to have antiviral, antimicrobial as well as anticancer activity. The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of locally produced Schizophyllan extract against Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV) F strain and Mukteswar 'S' strain. The selected Malaysian strain of S. commune mycelia was cultivated by liquid fermentation and Schizophyllan was extracted using isopropanol; then was further analyzed by FTIR. Subsequently, the extract was tested for its cytotoxicity towards normal cell line of DF-1. The extract was tested for its antiviral activity by post-attachment assay where Schizophyllan was introduced towards cells infected by NDV. The antiviral activity was further optimized using Response Surface Method (RSM) to measure the viral inhibition rate. The results showed that the extract prevented the viral replication by inhibiting 83% NDV F strain replication using 931.53 µg/ml of extract and treated 2 times per day towards the infected cells; and inhibiting 40.3% of NDV Mukteswar 'S' strain using 1010.63 µg/ml of extract and treated 2 times per day. In conclusion, Schizophyllan from S. commune (Malaysia strain) were highly recommended for further analysis and research towards the advancement of antiviral drug development.