Background: Cynometra cauliflora is a species of tree in the family Fabaceae and has been used in folk medicinal preparation. Objectives: In this study, Cynometra cauliflora methanolic leaves extract was tested against clinical isolate herpes simplex virus type-1 (HSV-1). Materials and Methods: The leaves of C. cauliflora plant was extracted using methanol extraction method. Cytotoxicity was assessed using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Plaque reduction assays were carried out to evaluate the antiviral activity of C. cauliflora extract against HSV-1. These include post-treatment, pre-treatment and virucidal assays. Results: The value of cytotoxic concentration, CC 50 of C. cauliflora extract was 36 mg/ mL. High antiviral activity was observed in post-treatment. C. cauliflora extract treatment was found to not interfere directly to infectious particle and confer mild protection when given as prophylaxis. Conclusion: This study provides important novel insights on the phytomedicinal properties of C. cauliflora extracts on HSV-1.

Background and Objectives: Catharanthus roseus is generally used to treat many diseases in folklore remedies. The present study is aimed at determining phytochemical constituents, cytotoxicity and antiviral activities for crude extract of the plant. Materials and Methods: The whole plant of C. roseus was extracted using methanol extraction method. Phytochemical qualitative screening was carried out for C. roseus extract according to standard procedures used to test for the presence of alkaloid, saponin, terpenoid and steroid. Cytotoxicity was assessed using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Plaque reduction assays were carried out to evaluate the antiviral activity of C. roseus extract against herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). These include post-treatment, pre-treatment and virucidal assays. Results: C. roseus extract contain secondary metabolites such as alkaloid, saponin and terpenoid but does not contain steroid. Cytotoxicity screening against Vero cells using MTT assay showed that the CC50 values for crude extract of C. roseus was 0.5 mg/mL. The extract prepared from C. roseus possesses phytochemical compound that was non-cytotoxic to the cell with potential antiviral activity. Plaque reduction assays against herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) showed that the selective indices (SI = CC50 / EC50) of C. roseus extract in post-treatment, pre-treatment and virucidal assays were 36, 20 and 4.7 respectively. The results revealed that the extract prepared from C. roseus possesses phytochemical compound that was non-cytotoxic to the cell with potential antiviral activity. Conclusion: This study showed that C. roseus extract has promising potential to be explored as anti-HSV-1 agent regardless of the mode of treatment.