Antiviral Effect of Ethanolic Extract of Salvadora Persica (Siwak) on Herpes Simplex Virus Infection.

Aims: To investigate the effect of ethanolic extract of Salvadora Persica extract on HSV1 infectionboth in vitro and in vivo in the mouse model system. Materials and methods: Ethanolic extract ofSalvadora Persica was used at different concentrations. BHK cells that grown in Eagles medium wereused for virus isolation and titration using PFU/ml. The effects of different concentrations of SalvadoraPersica on viral growth in BHK cells as well as cytolytic activity of HSV1 were evaluated at differenttime post infection. The therapeutic efficacy of Salvadora Persica in vivo was studied in mice. Lesionswere scored and viral isolation from infected skin and ganglia was titrated on BHK cells. Results:Salvadora Persica inhibited the replication of HSV1 in BHK cells as well as the cytolytic activity ofcell free virus. Topical application of Salvadora Persica on the skin of mice infected with HSV1reduced the development of cutaneous lesions and the viral titers in the skin and ganglia were alsoreduced. Conclusion: The results of this work may be beneficial for the treatment of recurrent oralherpes infections.