Inhibition of Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus Replication by Hydro-alcoholic and Aqueous-Acetic Acid Extracts of Alhagi maurorum

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a major infectious disease of cloven-hoofed animals that is caused by the FMD virus (FMDV). This disease has significantly adverse economic impacts; therefore, rapid control measures are urgently. Traditional ranchers in Iran use Alhagi maurorum Medik. to treat FMD; therefore, we aimed to examine the antiviral activity of methanolic, ethanolic, and aqueous-acetic acid extracts of this plant against FMDV. The cytotoxicity of the extracts was assayed by the MTT (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) method and the antiviral activity of the extracts was evaluated by measuring the percentage of viable FMDV infected-cells via the MTT assay at different stages of the virus replication cycle. The results indicated that the plant extracts exhibit antiviral activity against FMDV at all stages of the experiment, although the most significant effects were observed in virucidal and pre-treatment assays. These findings represent the anti-FMDV activities of A. maurorum extracts at several stages of the virus replication cycle; therefore, it could be considered for the potential development of anti-FMDV therapeutics. This creates the basis for further analyses of the molecular mechanisms of the antiviral activity of this herbal plant.