The study investigated the inhibitory effect and mechanism of tectorigenin derivative(SGY) against herpes simplex virus type Ⅰ(HSV-1) by in vitro experiments. The cytotoxicity of SGY and positive drug acyclovir(ACV) on African green monkey kidney(Vero) cells and mouse microglia(BV-2) cells was detected by cell counting kit-8(CCK-8) method, and the maximum non-toxic concentration and median toxic concentration(TC_(50)) of the drugs were calculated. After Vero cells were infected with HSV-1, the virulence was determined by cytopathologic effects(CPE) to calculate viral titers. The inhibitory effect of the tested drugs on HSV-1-induced cytopathy in Vero cells was measured, and their modes of action were initially explored by virus adsorption, replication and inactivation. The effects of the drugs on viral load of BV-2 cells 24 h after HSV-1 infection and the Toll-like receptor(TLR) mRNA expression were detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR(RT-qPCR). The maximum non-toxic concentrations of SGY against Vero and BV-2 cells were 382.804 μg·mL~(-1) and 251.78 μg·mL~(-1), respectively, and TC_(50) was 1 749.98 μg·mL~(-1) and 2 977.50 μg·mL~(-1), respectively. In Vero cell model, the half maximal inhibitory concentration(IC_(50)) of SGY against HSV-1 was 54.49 μg·mL~(-1), and the selection index(SI) was 32.12, with the mode of action of significantly inhibiting replication and directly inactivating HSV-1. RT-qPCR results showed that SGY markedly reduced the viral load in cells. The virus model group had significantly increased relative expression of TLR2, TLR3 and tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 3(TRAF3) and reduced relative expression of TLR9 as compared with normal group, and after SGY intervention, the expression of TLR2, TLR3 and TRAF3 was decreased to different degrees and that of TLR9 was enhanced. The expression of inflammatory factors inducible nitric oxide synthase(iNOS), tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α), and interleukin-1β(IL-1β) was remarkably increased in virus model group as compared with that in normal group, and the levels of these inflammatory factors dropped after SGY intervention. In conclusion, SGY significantly inhibited and directly inactivated HSV-1 in vitro. In addition, it modulated the expression of TLR2, TLR3 and TLR9 related pathways, and suppressed the increase of inflammatory factor levels.
Animals ; Antiviral Agents/therapeutic use* ; Chlorocebus aethiops ; Herpes Simplex/pathology* ; Herpesvirus 1, Human/metabolism* ; Isoflavones ; Mice ; TNF Receptor-Associated Factor 3/pharmacology* ; Toll-Like Receptor 2/metabolism* ; Toll-Like Receptor 3/metabolism* ; Toll-Like Receptor 9/metabolism* ; Toll-Like Receptors/metabolism* ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/metabolism* ; Vero Cells ; Virus Replication