In-vitro STUDIES OF THE SYNERGISTIC EFFECTS OF CURCUMIN AND EGCG AGAINST SOME RNA VIRUSES

RNA viruses have very high mutation rates than DNA viruses. This makes it difficult to make efficient RNA vaccines related to those RNA viruses that are characterized by their genetic variation. The main object of our study is to find natural herbal plants able to prevent and treat viral diseases. We evaluated the antiviral effect of Epigallocatechingallate (EGCG) from green tea and curcumin from Curcuma longa as a prophylactic and antiviral agent. The lethal doses of EGCG and curcumin were determined using different cell lines. The antiviral activities of each compound were evaluated separately and together using MA104, BGM, FRHK4, and Huh 7.5 cell lines, infected separately with different RNA viruses; Rotavirus Wa strain, HAV HM175, Coxsackievirus B4, and ED-43/SG-Feo (VYG) replicon of Hepatitis C virus genotype 4a. The results estimated by plaque assay and PCR analysis revealed that the combination between curcumin and EGCG showed the best results as a prophylactic and antiviral agent. Constant efforts are being made to identify promising sources of RNA antiviral and prophylactic agents