Evaluation of Antiviral Effects and Toxicity of Herbal Medicine Vipdervir Capsules

Abstract

Background: Antiviral vaccine is not effective, synthetic antiviral drugs are highly toxic, leading to increased interest in herbal medicines as promising antiviral drugs. Recently, Vipdervir has been developed from medicinal herbs with the aim to support and treat diseases caused by viruses such as H5N1 and SARSCoV- 2. In the present study, we assessed Vipdervir's antiviral activity against H5N1 and SARS-CoV-2. In addition, we also evaluated the acute toxicity and repeated dose toxicity of Vipdervir in mice and rabbits, respectively. Methods: H5N1 inhibitory effect of Vipdervir was assessed using hemagglutination inhibition assay. Vipdervir's SARS-CoV-2 inhibitory effect was evaluated by Plaque Reduction Neutralization assay. Acute and repeated dose oral toxicities of Vipdervir were determined according to OECD 423 and OECD 407 guidelines, respectively. Results: Data show that Vipdervir is effective against both H5N1 and SARSCoV- 2. At concentrations of 3 mg/mL and 5 mg/mL Vipdervir completely inhibits H5N1. At a concentration of 50 μg/mL Vipdervir showed an inhibitory effect on SARS-CoV-2. Acute toxicity data revealed that the LD50 of Vipdervir is greater than 35200 mg/kg, b.wt. in mice. Repeated toxicity data indicated that Vipdervir did not induce significant differences in body weight gain, hematology and clinical biochemistry in compared to the control group. The No Observed Adverse Effect Level of Vipdervir is greater than 613.8 mg/kg b.wt./day in rabbits. No delayed toxicity effects of Vipdervir were observed. Conclusion: Vipdervir capsules were found to be antiviral effective and relatively safe in the tested doses and experimental conditions. Key words: Antiviral, COVID-19, Herbal, H5N1, SARS-CoV-2.