Anticytomegalovirus activity of pristimerin, a triterpenoid quinone methide isolated from Maytenus heterophylla (Eckl. & Zeyh.).

We examined the anticytomegalovirus properties of four compounds: pristimerin, the pristimerin analogue, lupeol and 2-acetylphenol-1-beta-D-glucopyranosyl (1 --> 6)-beta-D-xylpyranoside (acetophenol glycoside), isolated from Maytenus heterophylla, a Kenyan medicinal plant. The effects were studied on human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) replication in the human embryonic fibroblast cell line, MRC-5. In a viral plaque-reduction assay, pristimerin showed dose-dependent inhibitory properties with a 50% inhibitory concentration of 0.

Evaluation of the HIV-1 reverse transcriptase inhibitory properties of extracts from some medicinal plants in Kenya.

Extracts from twenty two medicinal plants popularly used in preparing traditional remedies in Kenya were screened for activity against the HIV-1 reverse transcriptase. The screening procedure involved the use of tritium labeled thymidine triphosphate as the enzyme substrate and polyadenylic acid.oligodeoxythymidylic acid [poly(rA).

Anti-viral activity of the extracts of a Kenyan medicinal plant Carissa edulis against herpes simplex virus.

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection is a major opportunistic infection in immunosuppressed persons. It is therefore a serious disease in high HIV/AIDS prevalence areas as in sub-Saharan Africa where infections due to HSV have risen significantly. The development of resistant strains of HSV to the available drugs for infection management, as is evident in the first drug of choice acyclovir, has further compounded this situation.