2019/12/05 by Min Jung Kwon, He Min Shin, Haribalan Perumalsamy +3
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Bee Products Chemical Analysis #Essential Oils and Antimicrobial Activity #Insect and Pesticide Research
paper · doi:10.1080/00218839.2019.1695715
crossref issued 2019/12/05 · crossref published 2019/12/05 · crossref published-online 2019/12/05 · openalex publication_date 2019/12/05 · crossref created 2019/12/05 · crossref published-print 2020/08/07 · crossref deposited 2021/05/28 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref indexed 2026/07/27 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Propolis is a well-known medicinal bee hive product amongst others due to its antiviral properties. Human rhinoviruses (HRVs) are recognized to be responsible for more than 50% of common colds worldwide. This study was performed to determine if kaempferol (KF) and p-coumaric acid (p-CA) extracted from Brazilian propolis and another eight previously known compounds of propolis had antiviral activity toward human rhinovirus (HRV)-2, HRV-3, and HRV-4 in HeLa cells and to determine their mechanism of action using sulforhodamine B assay and real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Results were compared with those of a positive control ribavirin. Based on IC50 values, KF, quercetin, chrysin, and luteolin were more pronounced in antiviral activity toward HRV-2 (7.3–37.4 μM), HRV-3 (11.9–20.4 μM), and HRV-4 (12.9–24.4 μM) than a drug reference ribavirin (270.1–323.9 μM). The 35 μM KF and 610 μM p-CA did not interact with the HRV-3 particles. KF and p-CA inhibited HRV-3 infection when added during the early stages (0–4 h) after virus inoculation. These constituents remarkably reduced the RNA replication levels of HRV-3 in the HeLa cell cultures. These findings suggest that KF and p-CA may block or reduce the entrance of the viruses into the cells to protect the cells from the virus destruction and abate virus replication, which may play a crucial role in interfering with expressions of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 and interleukin-6. Further studies about the possible applications of propolis-derived materials as potential products to prevent or treat HRV infection are warranted.