Short Communication: Antiviral activity of Ribes uva-crispa L. extracts in vitro

There is currently no approved vaccine or a useful antiviral drug against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) that causes viral infection worldwide. Crude plant extracts can be an important resource for the development of new anti-RSV agents. In this study, cytotoxic and anti-RSV effect of the extracts Ribes uva-crispa, which has been known as "gooseberry" in Turkey and fruits used in the treatment of the various disorders, were evaluated by colorimetric XTT method. Results were expressed as 50% cytotoxicity (CC₅₀), 50% effective concentration (EC50) and selectivity index (SI: CC₅₀ / EC₅₀). Of the tested extracts, the highest antiviral activity was found to be 96.90μg/mL EC₅₀ and 11.70 SI from fruit aqueous extract; it was followed by leaf methanol extract (EC₅₀: 2527.41μg/mL, SI: 6.55), leaf aqueous extract (EC₅₀: 1093.37µg/mL, SI: 1.40) and fruit methanol extract (EC₅₀: 11262.35µg/mL, SI: 0.56), respectively. As a result, we can say that these extracts, especially Ribes uva-crispa fruit aqueous and leaf methanol extracts, are worthy of further studies for the development of new and unique anti-RSV drugs.