Evaluation of Medicinal Plants & Shilajit for Anti-HIV Activity

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is a devastating human disease, caused by Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). The development of safe, effective & low-cost Anti-HIV drugs is among the top global priorities of drug development, since the disease is not yet curable and the mortality is high. One of the strategies has been to identify Anti-HIV compounds from natural sources. In the present in vitro study, the material was selected on citations in the literature on Indian Traditional Medicine and also those commonly used in Folk Medicine. Total 17 extracts prepared from 5 plants namely, Ocimum sanctum, Withania somnifera, Tinospora cordifolia, Avicennia officinalis, Rhizophora mucronata & Shilajit a herbomineral have been evaluated for their specific inhibitory activity against HIV in vitro. The experimental results suggested that, most of the plants & Shilajit exert Anti-HIV activity via dual mechanism of action, viz., inhibiting viral Reverse Transcriptase (RT) enzyme & interfering with the gp120/CD4 interaction. Thus the present in vitro study forms a preliminary platform for further phytochemical & pharmacological evaluation.