In vitro efficacy of some indian medicinal plants as microbicides and their biosafety analysis

Women acquire HIV virus mostly by heterosexual exposure and the anti- ritroviral therapy is costly as well as have various side effects. The topical microbicide formulations applied vaginally or rectally were investigated as a strategy for HIV prevention. In present study three medicinal plants, Acacia catechu (L.f.) Willd, Lagerstromia spaciosa (L.) Pers. and Terminalia chebula Retz., were examined for their safety profile against four strains of vaginal microflora. In vitro production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and their antimicrobial activities against vaginal pathogens were assessed. Aqueous and 50% ethanolic leaf extracts of L. speciosa and P. longifolia did not inhibit the growth of vaginal microflora, whereas n-butanol fraction of A. catechu showed some inhibitory action. Similar observations were noted with Caco-2 cell line pro-inflammatory cytokines analysis. The test plant materials were nontoxic at low concentration but n-butanolic fraction of A. catechu demonstrated some toxicity. The extracts also inhibited the vaginal pathogens as compared to the standard chemicals Zidouvdine and Saquinavir. The study revealed the positive therapeutic potential of the studied plants as effective microbicide and can be explored for the development of topical anti HIV agents.