Anti-herpes simplex virus activities of traditional Chinese medicines, used in Yunnan and Tibetan provinces of China

One hundred and sixty-eight traditional Chinese medicines collected in the Yunnan and Tibetan provinces were screened for their anti-herpes simplex type 1 (HSV-1) activity by using a plaque reduction assay using Vero cells. Of these, 24 extracts exhibited appreciable inhibitory activities against HSV-1. They were further examined for their therapeutic efficacies in mice infected with HSV-1; mice were infected cutaneously with HSV-1 and the extracts were orally administrated three times daily. Among them, nine extracts of Terminalia chebula (T42), Tripterygium hypoglaucum (Y42M), and Moghania philippinensis (Y86M), and a water extract of Tripterygium hypoglaucum (Y44H) delayed the development and progression of skin lesions. Methanol extracts of Cassia fistula (T59), and Choerospondias axillaries (T73), and water extracts of Begonia evansiana (Y27H), Maytenus fookerii (Y60H) and Potentilla griffithii (Y63H) showed therapeutic effects. These extracts may be candidates for the development of anti-HSV-1 compounds.