New findings: Willow leaves can treat 'HIV'

The Sci-News website said a new study showed that willow greensus (Justicia gendarussa) is very popular in Southeast Asia, containing a stronger anti-HIV-1 compound than the clinical drug (azidothymidine - AZT).

Willow tree , an evergreen tree found in humid areas, is thought to have originated in China and is widely distributed throughout India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia .

In traditional Chinese and Chinese medicine, the leaves of the plant are used to treat diseases such as fever, hemiplegia, rheumatism, arthritis, headache, earache, myalgia, respiratory disorders and dyspepsia. chemical.

Willows gendarussa (Willicia gendarussa).(PHOTO: SCI-NEWS).

To find new weapons against HIV-AIDS, researchers screened more than 4,500 plant extracts and findings of patentiflorin A , potentially inhibiting reverse transcription (RT) , an enzyme. necessary for HIV to incorporate its genetic code into cell DNA.

The first anti-HIV drug , AZT (also known as zidovudine) was developed and approved in 1987. It inhibits RT enzymes and remains the basis of today's HIV drug prescriptions.

Co-author Lijun Rong, professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Illinois School of Medicine, Chicago, said: "Patentiflorin A represents an anti-HIV agent that can be added. Current anti-HIV combination regimens to increase viral suppression and AIDS prevention ".

In studies of human cells infected with HIV, patentiflorin A has a significant inhibitory effect on RT enzymes.

"Patentiflorin A inhibits RT activity much more effectively than AZT and can do it even at the earliest stage of HIV infection, when the virus invades macrophage cells and weakens the body. to infection when it occurs in immune system T cells, it is also effective against known drug-resistant strains of HIV, making it a promising candidate for development. more and more into a new anti-HIV drug, " said Professor Rong.

The study was published in the Journal of Natural Products.