Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies
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Focus Alternat Complement Ther©2005 Pharmaceutical Press
Focus Altern Complement Ther 1998; 3: 183–4
The antiviral activity of Sinupret drops and extracts that constitute the combination were tested in vitro against viruses affecting the respiratory system.
Test compounds: Sinupret® drops, five herbal preparations, References: amantadine HCl for influenza A and ribavirin for respiratory syncytial virus, Influenza A/Chile 1/83 (H1N1), parainfluenza type 1, were propagated in Madin-Darby-Canine-Kidney (MDCK) cells, the respiratory syncytial virus in human-epidermoid-carcinoma (HEp-2) cells, Plaque formation assay: Cell layers were infected with the virus for 60min. After removal of the virus inocculum and washings, the cell cultures were overlaid with medium, containing 0.6% Indubiose and dilutions of the test compound. Plaques were counted 5–7 days later.
Sinupret® drops and the extracts of Verbena officinalis herba (vervain) and Primula off. flores (cowslip) reduced the spreading of all three viruses. Respiratory syncytial virus was most sensitive with IC50 from 15 to 50 µg/ml dry extract mass. For influenza A the IC50 was in the range from 50 to 100 µg/ml dry mass. When cells were treated before infection, only RS-Virus was sensitive towards Sinupret® and the cowslip extract.
The inhibition of virus spreading by Sinupret® drops and the extracts of vervain and cowslip gives good evidence for a beneficial contribution to the efficacy of the marketed preparation in sinusitis and bronchitis.
