Antiviral traditional medicines against herpes simplex virus (HSV-1), poliovirus, and measles virus in vitro and their therapeutic efficacies for HSV-1 infection in mice.

One hundred forty-two kinds of traditional medicines, which have been historically used in China, Indonesia, and Japan, were examined for the antiviral activity of their hot water (HW) extracts against herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), poliovirus type 1, and measles virus by plaque reduction assay. Thirty-two, 55, and 30 HW-extracts of them showed anti-HSV-1, antipoliovirus, and anti-measles virus activities, respectively. Among the 32 HW-extracts with anti-HSV-1 activity, 3 HW-extracts had anti-HSV-1 activity alone and the others showed anti-HSV-1 activity with anti-poliovirus and/or anti-measles virus activities. The 32 HW-extracts were further examined for their therapeutic efficacies of HSV-1 infection in mice. The mice were infected cutaneously with HSV-1 and HW-extracts were orally administered three times daily. Twelve HW-extracts, currently used for the treatment of various diseases other than viral infection, were found to be significantly effective in limiting the development of skin lesions and/or in prolonging the mean survival times of HSV-1-infected mice. These results suggested that 12 of 142 HW-extracts that exhibited therapeutic efficacy in an animal infection model were possible candidates for anti-HSV-1 traditional medicine.