Anti-Zika virus activity and chemical characterization by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UPLC-DAD-UV-MS) of ethanol extracts in Tecoma species

Background: Plant species from the genus Tecoma are found in tropical and subtropical regions around the world. Some of them are grown as ornamental plants and others can be used as medicinal plants. In the present study, ethanolic extracts from trunks and leaves of Tecoma species were tested in vitro using assays against the Zika virus.

Methods: There was a total of 8 extracts obtained from different anatomical parts of three Tecoma species. The Tecoma castaneifolia, T. garrocha, T. stans var. angustata and T. stans var. stans were prepared by percolation with ethanol. The antiviral activity was assayed in vitro against the Zika virus by the MTT colorimetric method (n = 3). The UPLC-DAD-MS analysis of ethanolic extracts was performed from all the studied species. The biofractionation of T. stans var. stans trunk extract using different separation techniques led to the isolation of crenatoside compound.

Results: Ethanolic extract from Tecoma species leaves were more active against the Zika virus (EC₅₀ 149.90 to 61.25 μg/mL) when compared to the trunk extracts tested (EC₅₀ 131.0 to 66.79 μg/mL and two were not active). The ethyl acetate and aqueous fractions obtained from T. stans var. stans trunk were active against the Zika virus with EC₅₀ values of 149.90 and 78.98 μg/mL, respectively. Crenatoside is a phenylethanoid glycoside isolated from the ethyl acetate of T. stans var. stans trunk extract. This compound was tested and exhibited EC₅₀ 34.78 μM (21.64 μg/mL), thus demonstrating a better result than the original ethanolic extracts as well as others extracts of Tecoma species, and it was more active than the positive control, ribavirin (386.84 μM). Furthermore, its selectivity index was at least 2.5 times higher than the tested ethanolic extracts and 11.1 times more potent than ribavirin.

Conclusion: The Tecoma species demonstrated interesting in vitro activity against the Zika virus. The crenatoside, phenylethanoid glycoside that was for the first time isolated from Tecoma stans var. stans, exhibited a potent and relevant anti-Zika virus activity, being more active than ribavirin (positive control). The data show that crenatoside, was a promising compound with in vitro antiviral activity against the Zika virus.

Keywords: Antiviral activity; Flavonoids; Lignans; Phenylethanoid glycoside; Tecoma castaneifolia; Tecoma garrocha; Tecoma stans; Zika virus.